All the talk about Web 2.0 has morphed into some interesting conversations: introducing Health 2.0, the new wave of health care for the world, especially the U.S.

In case the proliferation has not reached your realm, Web 2.0 is an explosion of interconnected and interactive cultural communities. The term Web 2.0 does not refer to a new version of the World Wide Web but to changes in the ways software developers and people in general can simply plug-in and "play."

Generation Y

Features comprise a sort of a la carte assembly of systems such as open source software, syndication of content, networking and messaging protocols. Wikipedia says that Web 2.0 technologies foster innovation through four levels of applications. Level 3 applications exist only on the internet and succeed through people-to-people connection (eBay, Craigslist). Level 2 applications can operate offline but do better online (Flickr). Level 1 applications operate offline but become feature-rich translations online (iTunes), and Level 0 applications work equally well online or offline (MapQuest).

Social networking is the richest capability of Web 2.0. It takes the form of microsites such as blogs, or communities such as the well-known MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Content-sharing sites like these permit users around the globe to connect and communicate. It knocks down language and time barriers. It gives birth to new terms that suddenly comprise common chatter.

Moreover, it elucidates advantages for other venues. What began as file-sharing has quickly adapted to educational classrooms where universities and institutions successfully engage virtual students.

Science and the evolution of Web 2.0
Naturally these blooming wiki, blog, and social networking technologies piqued the interest of science, and many physicians, hospitals, associations and OEMs responded with their own CE courses or e-learning offerings. With the ability to include Adobe Flash, complex presentations, streaming or live video, training now seems limited only by the eye of a camera.

When innovation occurs, businesses naturally enlist the new technology to serve their models; and, as a result, niche communities grow. It did not take long for the spate of information rapidly shared among the specialized medical and health communities to spawn Health 2.0 and Medicine 2.0.

As the health care neural net extends, the public potential appears limitless. But questions arise. For example, what is the capacity for data security?

Big guns Google and Yahoo! have integrated health communities within their respective platforms, as DOTmed News has reported. Where is the trend going? Stay tuned to DOTmed News for Part Two and ongoing coverage.