Marshall Kirkpatrick, Technology Journalist

What is Web 2.0? Well, that’s up for debate. Here’s my working definition/explanation, followed by some other recent stabs at the subject.

If Web 1.0 (the original web) was e-mail and web browsers like Netscape and Explorer, then the set of tools currently emerging into widespread use can be understood as a fundamentally different stage of the web – Web 2.0.

What kinds of things do Web 2.0 tools do?

They allow non-web designers to put their own content (writing, audio or video etc.) online easier than ever before.
They make content more portable than ever and easier to remix, mash together or reuse in a different context.
They utilize this user-generated content and the economy of scale/ network multiplier effect created to draw valuable connections between related users and content.
They make discovery of new content more automated and relevant than ever before.
They have the potential to exponentially increase the amount of information that any of us are able access, store and recall.
And it all happens fast.

Why is this happening now and what’s making it possible?

Nearly ubiquitous broadband zips data around much of the world in a way that’s effortless to users.
Data storage is now cheap as dirt.
Ingenuity, and the above factors, have led to the coalescence of the last 10 years of programming innovation to a tipping point.

That’s what I think, right now. What does Web 2.0 look like? To get an idea, go look around these three sites:

To learn about non profit groups using Web 2.0 make sure to check out NetSquared.org.

Oh but you’d better believe that lots of other people are working on defining Web 2.0. One aggregation of top resources is Joshua Porter’s Introduction to Web 2.0 lens at Squidoo.

Lest anyone is taken too seriously (I do take this stuff very seriously), don’t forget to check out the insider satirists’ network Bubble 2.0 Snark Group.

But the definition is contested and developed daily. Here’s some of the most recent Technorati blog search results for “definition of Web 2.0″

Click here to see more definitions of Web 2.0