Web 2.0: Principles and Best Practices

Chapter SECTION III. Web 2.0 Exemplars

If there are eight core patterns that define Web 2.0, then what are the companies that are most successfully applying those principles? This section examines two perspectives:

• Exemplars matrix. Ten Web 2.0 leaders are reviewed in the context of these patterns. This model shows the relationship of Web 2.0 patterns as used across the industry, as well as highlights the strengths and weaknesses (or gaps) in the application of Web 2.0 practices. Companies are listed left to right by start date, which shows a mix of early pioneers that capitalized on the Web's unique traits, as well as newer startups that built on these lessons (see Table 5).

• Case studies. Two of these exemplars successfully used, or in some cases defined, Web 2.0 best practices. Two very different types of online businesses are examined from two very different generations: Amazon.com demonstrates how a company born in the Web's first era successfully evolved into a Web 2.0 company, while the much newer Flickr was born with many of the genetics of Web 2.0 at its core. The former has a more traditional transactional business model whereas the latter focuses on consumer-generated digital content.

Table 5. Web 2.0 Exemplars Matrix

		Amazon	eBay	Craigslist	Google	Wikipedia	del.icio.us	MySpace	Eventful	Flickr	YouTube
Background	Founded	1995	1995	1995	1998	2001	2003	2003	2004	2004	2005
	Web site	Amazon.com	ebay.com	craigslist.org	google.com	wikipedia.org	del.icio.us	myspace.com	eventful.com	flickr.com	youtube.com