Characteristics of Web 2.0

While interested parties continue to debate the definition of a Web 2.0 application, some suggest that a Web 2.0 web-site may exhibit some basic characteristics. These might include:

• "Network as platform" — delivering (and allowing users to use) applications entirely through a browser^{[5] [6]}.
• Users owning the data on the site and exercising control over that data^[7][5].
• An architecture of participation and democracy that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it^[5][1].
• A rich, interactive, user-friendly interface based on Ajax^[5][1] or similar frameworks.
• Some social-networking aspects^[7][5].

The concept of Web-as-participation-platform captures many of these characteristics. Bart Decrem, founder and former CEO of Flock calls Web 2.0 the "participatory Web"^{[citation needed]}, and regards Web-as-information-source as Web 1.0.