Web 2.0 is the Active Web

Among the criticisms of the criticism of Web 2.0, some postulators have made the point that there is enough cool stuff happening on the web right now that it deserves a phrase to distinguish the current iteration of web applications from those that came before it.

So, I thought I’d throw my own bowl of egg noodles into the air and see how it lands.

What about the Active Web? For me, prior generation web applications were mostly passive based on publishing paradigms. New generation applications are almost without exception “active”. They require user-interaction and participation. We’re talking social networking, blogging, community-oriented apps like flickr, etc.

The web applications themselves are also far more active, with AJAX allowing the application to respond like an desktop application rather than just prompting a page load.

And, of course, it’s a subtle nod to the fact that AJAX was once called Active X in another lifetime. Waddayareckon?

Filed under: Web 2.0