Web 2.0 Social Networking Evolution

Many of us don't realize this, but the internet has evolved immensely since its birth in 1973 through the DARPA project. The current evolutionary phase has been termed as the Web 2.0 era. So what is Web 2.0 exactly?

Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate contents that are published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture.

Keeping it simple, Web 2.0 technology brings social interaction to the next level among internet users in the online world.

If you're registered at one of the popular a social networking services such as Facebook, Friendster or Myspace, then you're already benefiting from this technological evolution. It's pretty common these days to meet your long lost buddies on these social networking sites. I myself have discovered a childhood friend living in Austria that I've lost contact with since 15 years ago. Out of curiosity, I searched Facebook's database of Austrian school networks, typed in the public school and the year i used to attend, and 10 minutes later...Guten Tag my long lost Austrian friends. Danke Schoen Facebook! Now, imagine if we had to live in the 15th century...

Facebook founder, 22 year old Mark Zuckerberg. The 21st century Mr. Gates?

Here's an interesting but obvious fact: each geographical region has its own popular Web 2.0 social networking service.

In Japan, they have Mixi. For german speaking countries in EU, almost everyone who's web savvy is registered with StudiVZ. In South East Asian countries, Friendster dominates as the #1 most visited site in the Phillipines and it's also ranked #2 in Indonesia. For the US, it's of course Facebook which Microsoft has recently invested $230 million in, making the 22 year old founder the upcoming billionaire of Web 2.0 universe.

So what other Web 2.0 stuff are must-haves other than social networking services?

Check out this awesome COMPLETE WEB 2.0 WEB DIRECTORY

If you're are into internet marketing then this

Web 2.0 Resource Bible is a must read.

and not to forget - thanks Mark for being such a genius!

Go FACEBOOK!