This week for digital storytelling 106, we were given two reading assignments about the web 2.0 concept. The first of which was Tim O’Reilly’s article titled “What Is Web 2.0″ which depicted the evolution of the internet. O’Reilly used specific examples of web applications, such as Netscape and Google, which demonstrate how advancements have made sharing and finding content easier.  Netscape, which O’Reilly calls the “standard bearer” of Web 1.0, was a web browser software developer who planned on controlling the standards for displaying content and applications. By contrast, Google was a free web application and search engine that existed in between the web browser and destination server. While Netscape introduced the capabilities of surfing the web, Google transformed the market for search engines.

The second reading assignment was “Web 2.0 Storytelling” by Bryan Alexander, who analyzed many of the virtual platforms for storytelling on the web today. Alexander cited Twitter as a live storytelling application and Wikis as a digital collaboration application. However the biggest example he gave of Web 2.0 storytelling was blogging. Blogging not only enables free flow writing, but also interaction with readers. It’s capabilities allow users to customize their blogs and make it unique. Today, blogs have many different applications on the web. Individuals can use them as a diary while companies can use them to communicate and interact with their customers.

I found both articles had an interesting underlying concept. The Web 2.0 evolution has continued to advance the art of storytelling and sharing capabilities. The development of applications such as a Google and Blogs have allowed individuals and entities to communicate and connect with each other who  would not have previously not been able to interact. Surfing the web used to be a skill, but now it’s as easy as typing www.google.com. It will be interesting to see how the web continues to evolve and how sharing and storytelling capabilities will connect users in the future.