NOTE: This is a re-post from my orginal blog post on DevCow - Going a little too far with stage fright of Web 2.0
I really respect Jakob Nielsen on most of his suggestions about web sites and intranets, but today his newsletter came in with the title "Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous" http://www.useit.com/alertbox/web-2.html. This seems like a broad statement for a broad term "Web 2.0". I am afraid this could give the who read his material the wrong idea about Web 2.0.
Claim: Don't use AJAX
Mr. Nielsen's biggest argument for AJAX or rich content sites is that people don't know how to design them and create them yet. Isn't that the point with new technology? Sometimes you will do an amazing job and sometimes we learn from our mistakes. Maybe some of you remember the web sites from the early days, most people used the scrolling marque. That didn't seem to work and today everyone knows in most cases not to use it. We learned and improved the way people interacted with web sites from the early days of web sites. If we would have stopped and gone back to basic pages, sites like http://www.amazon.com/ would be a little boring.
Claim: Communities are too small and Mashups confuse people
There were no real arguments about social networking either for or against. He did talk about discussion groups/boards and how they don't work well on the web. I think this is a problem with the web site and the purpose of the site and not the technology. The same comments on Mashups were that the technology isn't ready yet and that you should still write your own services. It seems like the concern he has is a major fear of the hosted model or relying on people for services. This is the direction the industry is going and I think it is better to understand it then to try not to use it.
Wrap up: Use Web 2.0 when it fits
So his final point is that using a little Web 2.0 doesn't hurt, very different than his title that got you to read his article. I think this is the biggest problem with the article. You can't just use Web 2.0, Web 2.0 means a lot to many people. The funny part here is that he says you have to have all your Web 1.0 requirements working. Well at some point in time people were saying Web 1.0 might not have much ROI and that you should have your pre Web 1.0 requirements working first. The web is an evolution, you have to evolve with it. That means you might not always make the right choices, but you will have to change with the times. Yes a static site will still work, in fact that is what I usually start with, but if you want a real site it must be interactive and have updated data/functionality.
My advice is to learn what Web 2.0 is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2), learn the terminology for yourself, learn how it can be used. Then decide what you shouldn't use for now. Don't stay away from Web 2.0 before you know really know what it is.
