Update: For my non-technical readers – here is a quick explanation of Web 2.0 from Wikiversity and Wikipedia.

There has been much said on the internet yesterday about the segment on Carte Blanche about Web 2.0. Almost too much. Bloggers are up in arms that CB didn’t encapsulate what Web 2.0 is, but rather made up their own Web 2.0 or Web two [sic].

I watched the segment with my fiancé on Sunday and driving home today I chatted to her about her thoughts on it. Firstly, remember she has no clue what Web 2.0 is. She uses Facebook, MXit, Gmail and uses Google to “search for things”. That’s the extent of her knowledge and it has definitely been pushed by me, as her friends are even further behind than she is. Anyway, the way she saw the segment was that in today’s world, we are communicating in a totally different way than we were 10 years ago. Cellphones, email, SMS, Facebook, MXit are all new ways to stay in touch with friends, colleagues and family. She says that if you don’t keep up with it, you’ll find yourself loosing touch with those people and have the feeling of being left behind.

Babe, did you see them mention Web 2.0? (Her response): Yes, I thought its a new version of Internet Explorer or something.

I then did my level best to try and explain what Web 2.0 was giving examples of the things Facebook does to show her the new technologies Web 2.0 employs, and also saying that Web 1.0 was before the dotcom bust, and online business has learnt from those mistakes and adapted to a newer Web 2.0 way of interacting with people / consumers online.

I also told her there was a lot of peeved people on the net today regarding how misinformed CB are regarding the segment. She didn’t understand why, and thought that CB took an angle on the story and only had 15 minutes with which to work with. If they had more time, they could of obviously covered many more angles and made the Web 2.0 people happier.

I think she hit the nail on the head with regards to saying that us Web 2.0 people are obviously upset with CB as they seemed to have totally lost the plot about “us”. But the reason we are upset is because its “us” they talking about. CB had a target audience in mind and seemed to have delivered something that non Web 2.0 people could understand to a certain extent. One thing I think they should not have done is title the segment “Web 2.0″. It should be more along the lines of the “The Changing Face of Communication” ( thxJustin!) because that is what the story actually is about.

And lastly, Rafiq asked if he came across arrogant in the segment because he seemed to be getting a number of emails, facebook messages and sms’es from haters out there. He definitely didn’t in my mind. But think of it as this metaphor: You approach a client who wants a website. You come back with a quote and he tells you off because your quote is outrageously expensive at R5000 and that his nephew who is in Grade 11 can create him a netsite and would only charge R500. Ignorance is bliss and that is why these haters have something to say Rafiq. Take it from Charl, publicity is never a bad thing. ;-)