In June 2008 we commissioned Graeme Martin and Martin Reddington at the University of Glasgow School of Management to conduct research into Web 2.0 and its relationship with human resource management. In an initial discussion paper they provided the following definition of Web 2.0:
"Web 2.0 is different because it is a read-write web providing a democratic architecture for participation, encouraging people to share ideas, promoting discussion and fosters a greater sense of community. In summary, it has been described as a 'People-centric Web' that stimulates conversations, interpersonal networking, personalisation and individualism."
In the discussion paper the authors offer a glossary of Web 2.0 terms and an analysis of their applications.
The final report of our research, Web 2.0 and human resource management: 'groundswell' or hype? was published in March 2009, and is available from the CIPD bookstore.