Authors: Arnaud Gorgeon, and E. Burton Swanson (UCLA) (USA)

Abstract: Information Systems (IS) innovations are often characterized by buzzwords, reflecting organizing visions that structure and express the images and ideas formed by a wide community of users about their meaning and purpose. In this paper, we examine the evolution of Web 2.0, a buzzword that is now part of the discourse of a broad community, and look at its entry in Wikipedia over the three years since its inception in March 2005. We imported the revision history from Wikipedia, and analyzed and categorized the edits that were performed and the users that contributed to the article. The patterns of evolution of the types and numbers of contributors and edits lead us to propose four major periods in the evolution of the Web 2.0 article: Seeding, Germination, Growth and Maturity. During the Seeding period, the article evolved mostly underground, with few edits and few contributors active. The article growth took off during the Germination period, receiving increasing attention. Growth was the most active period of development, but also the most controversial. During the last period, Maturity, the article received a decreasing level of attention, current and potential contributors losing interest, as a consensus about what the concept of Web 2.0 means seemed to have been reached.

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