What exactly is Web 2.0?

I pondered this question many times when I have seen Web 2.0 mentioned in articles. Of course, I have heard about Web 2.0 for a few years now. You would have to live under a rock not to, but what does it really mean? If you want to take some time and read a long article about it like I did, you can find it here, http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html. Its another one of O'Reilly's wonderful articles. Of course, in this blog I will not get as detailed as O'Reilly's article. I am just going to give what I gathered from it. I found out many things that makes a web site Web 2.0, but the one thing that stands out in my mind, is the "harnessing collective intelligence" as O'Reilly's article put it. This blog is a great example of Web 2.0. Several participants log on and express their thoughts on screen. The one major advantage to a blog is for search engines. The more blog material a site has the better chances of a hit. It brings more potential costomers to your site, which lessens the need to do outside advertising. Another good example of Web 2.0 is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a knowledge based site, an encyclopedia of information. Anyone can get on it and share one's knowledge. So if you are thinking of a new website, read O'Reilly's article, use Web 2.0, and take your site to the next level.