Web 2 Pros and Cons

Web 2 applications are useful for two-way communications and is heavily based upon interaction, collaboration and networking. With this comes a variety of advantages and disadvantages for users, depending on the need and use of web 2.

You can use web 2 applications for the following:

• For Social Networking purposes such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
• For content writing and submission
• To post blogs
• To post comments and make reviews
• Search for information that is continuously being updated
•  Share personal work such as presentations
•  Online gaming

From these examples it is evident that web 2 is highly interactive and can be a great way to share information. However, despite all the positive advantages of Web 2 there are also disadvantages.

Advantages

• Using social networking sites can improve marketing strategies through adverts on topics that will appeal to each user. Through their recent search activity and the use of cookies, adverts can be personally adjusted to suit each different user.
• Having the equality to post individual views and comments allows users the freedom to express interest and engage with others of similar interests to them.
• Social networks increase social interaction and contacts, which can lead to promoting businesses, products and services.
• Customers can now leave reviews of products, which acts as a guide for new customers to see the quality and usefulness of a product before buying.

Disadvantages

• While having information being updated regularly on web 2 applications, this can also lead to information overload, which can create confusion for readers, and the content can be questioned on the grounds of reliability.
• Freedom to post views and comments on particular products can cause competition and lead to opponents to post negative reviews about other companies, which defeats the equality component of a web 2 application.

When it comes to using a web 2 application for educational purposes it can be debateable due to many advantages and disadvantages. I found this table here, and it highlights how web 2 can be a great tool for education but also discusses the disadvantages of why it may be unreliable.