November 23rd, 2005
Web 2.0 Wikipedia page taken over by Cynics
I was a bit dismayed when I checked the latest version of the Wikipedia page for Web 2.0 and saw this super-snarky intro paragraph:
"The term "Web 2.0" refers to development of the World Wide Web, including its architecture and its applications. However, a consensus upon its exact meaning has not yet been reached. A growing chorus of skeptics argue that the term is essentially meaningless, or that it means whatever its proponents decide that they want it to mean in order to convince the media and investors that they are creating something fundamentally new, rather than using well-established technologies (such as JavaScript) and recycling unsustainable business models that failed in the dot-com crash (such as the concept that a service’s popularity necessarily correlates to its ability to earn money)."
Obviously the Wikipedia editors aren’t keeping a close enough eye on the Web 2.0 page. That kind of dreary cynicism is not what I’d lead a definition page with! But I guess that paragraph is a sign of the times, when skepticism outweighs positivity. Having said that, it’s interesting to watch the Web 2.0 Wikipedia page because of that. It evolves in line with popular opinion.
There is a cool new graphic on the page though:
