There are many who argue about the definition of web 2.0, but it was Tim O’reilly who claims to have come up with the terminology – and it’s stuck. More than just a simple definition, which would do the concept injustice, O’Reilly sets out a meme map that provides a visual clue of the complexity of the ways people and businesses are collaborating on the net.

There are several key components to what O’Reilly claims are the core of web 2.0. I’ll set these out as follows:

1. The web as the platform. The days of packaged software is over – move what you do onto the web.
2. Data.
   

   The race is on to own certain classes of core data: location, identity, calendaring of public events, product identifiers and namespaces.

3. Harness collective intelligence. Sharing through wikis, blogs, and tagging makes us better and smarter both individually and collectively.
4. End of software release cycles. The constant beta and learning from customer behaviour. Software is being constantly updated and improves with greater usage.
5. Simple, light programming. Think RSS, loose coupled, and co-operating.
6. Software above and beyond the device. Get your product onto any device – a computer, mobile phone, i-pod, fridge, skateboard – you name it.
7. Create a rich user experience. Back in the day we had Word as a “rich” experience, but on a desktop. Now we can have the same experience on the web with Google Docs