Web 2.0 is a concept or a term used to describe the evolving changes with the World Wide Web today. It defines the trends of the new technologies and web design used to enhance creativity, share information, and create collaboration for users. Web 2.0 has forged large web-based communities like social networking sites, blogs, wikis, and even folksonomies. The term Web 2.0 is also considered to be the new version of the World Wide Web. There are no technical specification changes but changes in the way people do things on the web with their design of sites and how to capture the users.

Web 2.0 has four different levels which embody the principles. The four levels include level-0, level-1, level-2, and level-3. Level-3 is the most Web 2.0 oriented and only exists on the Internet. The effectiveness is derived from inter-human connections from websites like eBay, Craigslist, Skype, Wikipedia, and more.

Level-2 of Web 2.0 works by the use of applications. They can be used on or offline but gain the most advantages when used online. Flickr is known to be a level-2 site. This is a community generated tag and photo database that allows people to share their information.

An example of level-1 Web 2.0 is Google Docs & Spreadsheets. A common one used for music is iTunes because it has the ability to store music and purchase music. Level-1 applications work online and offline but gain many features when they are used online.

Level-0 applications are the true Web 2.0 trends that work excellent offline and online. These include things like MapQuest, Yahoo, and Google Maps. However, mapping applications can also be considered to be level-2 when users need to go back online to add contributions to the sites.

Web 2.0 sites allow users to be interactive and not only retrieve information they are looking for. This means that people can build on the facilities of a site. The websites today provide networking which allow the users to run applications through their web browser. Users practically own the data on a site and can exercise control on a website.

A Web 2.0 site encourages users to participate and as they do, they add value to the site applications. Traditional sites limited users to being able to read information and become a part of a mailing list for newsletters. The Web 2.0 interface on websites have an interface that is rich and user-friendly. They might be based on Ajax, openlaszlo, or Flex. Many of these sites also have social networking features too.

User participation gives web surfers the freedom of adding to sites their input and their collective intelligence by participating in online discussions, forums, postings, and more. This makes a site worth going back to because the users have their own name on the site and they have their own place on the site which is branded by them.

When you have a Web 2.0 website that allows users to brand themselves into the site and collectively join others in discussions and things that interest them, they are sure to return. This not only generates traffic but it generates repeating users. These are people who feel they have an ownership in the website too.