Ashley, H et al

There are vast numbers of Web 2.0 tools, applications, platforms, and services available. Many of them are free or low-cost and easy-to-use. This section provides a series of short introductory guides to a selection of commonly used Web 2.0 tools: blogging; micro-blogging and Twitter; wikis; online social networking; RSS feeds; tagging; social bookmarking; glossary of Web 2.0 terms. Each guide provides a brief description of the tool and how it can be used for development purposes, along with links to further information and where applications can be downloaded online

The authors explore the use of Web 2.0 tools for development and introduce readers to the concept of Web2forDev. Web 2.0 tools are radically changing the ways we create, share, collaborate and publish digital information through the Internet. Participatory Web 2.0 for development (Web2forDev for short) is a way of employing web services to intentionally improve information-sharing and on-line collaboration for development. It presents us with new opportunities for change - as well as challenges - that we need to better understand and grasp.