So I just recently got sucked into Facebook after avoiding it for so long. It turns out that it was a really good idea as I met back up with some friends I haven’t heard from for years and got to get a pretty close to live update on what they’re doing with their lives. It’s fun to see.

This was just another example of how the web is becoming more and more of a social platform. It’s fun to see this transition from the old home pages with .midis playing and animated GIFs for as far as the eye can see. The social web now opens up interactive sites for people who would never have previously touched a PC or don’t know the first thing about coding.

Another result of the social web trend is the online dating site. These range from the paid services like eHarmony (I still don’t trust that guy on TV) to newer ad-sponsored sites like Just Say Hi. Sites like these make it easy for the sometimes-awkward socialites looking for people through the ‘net.

These sites are also good examples of a new trend in programming for the web called “Web 2.0” design. The basic idea is that the internet is molding itself to be more friendly to those who don’t want to mold themselves to it. Where it used to be reserved for the elite (or l33tz0r), it is now open for anyone looking for almost any type of social outreach.