I was writing an e-mail to a client today, and I started describing and thinking of Web 2.0 as having a set of pillars that it rests on. As I continued down this path I thought of the following four pillars:
- An interface enhanced by AJAX
- An opportunity for user engagement in the community, possibly so much that much of the site has user-created or user-generated content
- A user interface that enables and encourages social networking — that is, connecting to existing friends and finding new friends
- An API (or Application Programming Interface) that enables third-party developers to engage with your application at a programmatic level, using features of your application in theirs
A Web 2.0 site typically rests on some combination of these four pillars. Well, these and a shiny, gradient design.
Can anyone come up with any others? I'll update this post with any suggestions I get.