Around the year 2000, we were entering a world on the verge of change, a world that would define not just me, but how many other people interact online. Today, this period is affectionately known as Web 2.0, which introduced an additional dimension in interactivity and user-generated content, laying the foundation for the digital interactions we experience today.
The Birth of Web 2.0 My personal pilgrimage in the world of Web 2.0 began just at the time when the Internet was crawling out of its erstwhile, static state into a new vibrant ecosystem of billions of dynamic and interactive web applications. It was a techno-cultural revolution.
Before long, I had found myself not only consuming but producing content, too. The social networking sites, blogs, wikis, and media-sharing I was pretty into by that time were not just sites. They had given me the opportunity to say my say to many and chitchat with other people about worthwhile conversations. I remember reading “Mommy, What’s a Social User Experience Pattern?” which shed light on the precursors of this era. It talks about The Well and PLATO, first sparks for the kind of community and interaction that would typify Web 2.0 today, although only primitively.
These platforms showed me that the internet was more than a network of computers; it was a network of people.
Web 2.0 was transformative for me in several ways:
Social Networking: With the help of websites like Facebook and LinkedIn, these allowed me to have a connection with different people in ways that I thought I could have never done before.
Real-Time Collaboration: This was the ease brought by those tools that really broke geographical barriers, hence easily enabling cooperation across continents.
Personalization and Profiles: The creation of personal profiles allowed me to personalize the internet after my interests and, therefore, made every interaction, service, and participation in the online environment mine. The Transition to Today’s Internet
As I navigated my way in this rapidly changing digital world, I saw changes that were pushing me toward a more mobile, personal, and sophisticated internet. Soon, my experiences online were actually orchestrated by artificial intelligence and machine learning, all based on suggested recommendations, my personal tastes, and interests.
Augmented and virtual realities brought experiences that went deeper than the screen into new worlds, while improvements to those and other data-driven technologies were spurred by increasing concerns about the necessary security and protections of individual privacy and user focus for the internet. Nowadays, the ideology of decentralization smashes traditional models and suggests another open, equal online world. Even while doing our everyday activities, working daily, blockchain and its decentralized platforms are changing the process of content creation and delivery to ensure that the future Internet is not only a space for innovating and building equality but also a real, actual space for building interaction. Looking at how much things have changed since Web 2.0 to the internet of today, I am reminded of a journey from simple interactivity towards complex, immersive, and personalized experiences. In both cases, such transitions underline not only how dynamic the Internet has become but also how greatly it has affected our social interrelations. As I walk these digital times, I look back on such a rich history we’ve made in making this world online and look forward to the new opportunities.
History of Social Online Experiences, Erin Malone – PART 3 – pp. 15-22
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