The term Web 2.0 was founded at O'Reilly Media conference in 2003 and introduced a new concept "Web is the platform" to the world. Web 2.0 as a platform was defined by high interactivity and usability, participation, social networking and the use of applications. The following table shows the key differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 according to O'Reilly.

But the new concept was met with suspect by many web developers and experts considering it a buzzword that has nothing behind it. They argue that Web 2.0 is just a mindset.

So far there have been many subjective explanations given to the term, but no exhaustive one. Below are the basic readings on Web 2.0 to get the key perspectives on the subject and the reasoning behind them.

Tim O'Reilly - What is Web 2.0

Definitions of Web 2.0 from Web Experts

Does "Web 2.0" Mean Anything? by Paul Graham

The Myth, Reality & Future of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 for Designers

10 Definitions of Web 2.0 and their Shortcomings

Web 2.0 Culture

Web 2.0 Recap - Web 2.0: The Truth is Somewhere Out There

What is Web 2.0? presentation by Andy Budd

Web 2.0, Mashups and Social Networking - What is it All About?

Communications 2.0: Beta is Better

Pretty much everybody on the Web have some knowledge of what Web of 2.0 represents. But where do you actually draw the line between Web 2.0 newbies, connoisseurs and experts?

Design Interviews offers a quick and simple Web 2.0 quiz to help you figure out how competent you really are on the issue by awarding you a certain level of degree (master's, bachelor's, or Web 2.0 student) after the quiz completion.

Great minds (whose names are not to be revealed due to the fact that they might have never suspected they were a part of it) were secretly involved. You may consider this a silly joke or your pass to the VIP zone at any web design event - in any case, the quiz will be fun to take!

Take the quiz and get a degree in Web 2.0 Design and a one hella great mood for the day!

Web 2.0 Design Quiz

Web 2.0 brought with it a lot of things. One was a new style of design aimed to make the Internet a better and a more comfortable place for everyone. Gradients, reflections, drop shadows and rounded corners are all classic elements of Web 2.0 design style that dominates websites now with new ones popping up buzzing to be Web 2.0-styled and old ones announcing redesign in order to label themselves Web 2.0, too.

Web 2.0 Design in a Nutshell

Web 2.0 Design Style Guide

The Visual Design of Web 2.0

Great Fonts for Web 2.0

Web 2.0 Color Palette

Web 2.0 Templates

12 Ways to Turn your Web 1.0 site to Web 2.0 site

Web 2.0 icons

Web 2.0 is a hot topic at the moment, and not just because of the hype, but because of the insane amount of stuff that's being built for it right now. And as everything is going Web 2.0 now, being aware of the latest trends and innovations related to Web 2.0 will pretty much keep you up to date with the whole web industry nowadays.

Web 2.0 Journal

Web 2.0 Magazine

Last.fm Launches Video - Aims To Be The MTV Of Web 2.0 Age

GigaOM - Web 2.0 news blog

Web 2.0 to Mobile 2.0

Soundpedia - Music 2.0

Human 2.0

EVERYTHING 2.0

The complex and evolving technology infrastructure of Web 2.0 is typically characterized by improved communication between people, improved communication between separate software applications, or "mashups", and improved Web interfaces. A Web 2.0 website usually features such techniques as clean and meaningful URLs, rich Internet application techniques, optionally Ajax-based, CSS, and weblog publishing.

Feed Injection in Web 2.0

Web 2.0 - The AJAX Spectrum

Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines

Web 2.0 - Data, Metadata and Interface

Web 2.0 culture

Some of the most famous Web 2.0 communities are probably Digg, Facebook, Flickr, and Newsvine, each of them dedicated to the specific niche community they represent. Besides information, being a member of such communities will guarantee you traffic, generate links and eventually good positions in Google and other search engines. And the list is constantly changing and added. Various teams of web developers, among which Seomoz's team is most well known one, review hundreds of sites in the Web 2.0 sphere on regular basis to uncover the best in dozens of categories. As a rule, core criteria are Web 2.0 characteristics and number of users.

Web 2.0 Workgroup

Webware.com community users voted for their favorite Web applications

Web 2.0 magazine list of the Best Web 2.0 websites

Top 10 Web 2.0 Losers

Web 2.0 Awards

Library 2.0

Another distinct feature of Web 2.0 era is the use of wiki software either completely or partially and use of user-friendly content management systems (CMS) that are often open sourced, providing extensive website functionality at very low cost and reducing learning curves. The result is the equivalent of a massive software upgrade for the entire Web. Essentially, the Web is shifting from an international library of interlinked pages to an information ecosystem.

Web 2.0 Software

Interview with "Web 2.0 father" Tim O'Reilly

Interview with Paul Graham

Leonard Witt - How Web 2.0 Technologies will Affect Us All

Interview with Jason Bean

Conferences as a way of meeting new people, stimulating new ideas and refreshing your creativity have become rather popular and regular. And now that the Web has become a robust platform with countless innovations driving its ongoing development, there are many Web 2.0 events going on bringing together the best to discuss and debate the greatest opportunities and the greatest risks of its progress. As a rule, such events are focused primarily on the most important issues and strategies in the Internet industry today, and emerging business and technology developments that utilize the Web as a platform. Whether you're a Web 2.0 advocate or no, the events listed below are worth visiting in educational and inspirational terms.

Web 2.0 Summit

Web 2.0 EXPO - conference for web professionals, marketers and entrepreneurs

Web Directions South Conference

Web Directions North Conference

d.Construct - User Experience Conference

The New New Internet: Web 2.0 conference

WebVisions - the creative conference for the Web

Canada's premier Web conference

Despite all the hype about Web 2.0, there are many opponents of the concept. The term has really been rather controversial for a number of reasons such as the lack of set standards as to what "Web 2.0" actually means and implies. Another argument is that Web 2.0 is a commercial project and simply continues to use "Web 1.0" technologies and concepts, as many of the so-called "Web 2.0 ideas" were already featured on networked systems well before the term "Web 2.0" emerged. Andrew Keen's "Anti Web 2.0 manifesto" and SmugMug's "The (Anti) Web 2.0 Company" are the two best known examples of Web 2.0 opposition.

The Anti Web 2.0 Manifesto

The Amorality of Web 2.0

Don't Believe the Web 2.0 Hype

Web 2.0 - It's worse than you think

SmugMug - The Anti Web 2.0 Company

Web 2.0 at the Superbowl

Nightmare 2.0

Web 2.0 Comics

The New Internet "Boom" Doesn't Live Up to Its Name

Web 2.0 Validator - Find out if the site is really Web 2.0