User-created content distribution platform

Abstract

The exponential growth of World Wide Web (WWW) has revolutionized how people access, retrieve and manage information. The information explosion is further propelled by the birth of Web 2.0 which empowers users to contribute through authoring, rating, collaborating and distributing Internet content. The most phenomenal success of Web 2.0 does not underlie with the technological innovation, but rather the remarkable exchange of information and the organic growth of networks that support it. A range of technological, social and economical factors also contribute to the rapid growth of user-created Internet content. The rapid uptake of broadband by households due to increased availability and lowering cost has increasingly enabled users to create, upload and download content in various formats, which was only limited to text and simple, low quality graphics previously. The shift to younger age groups with substantial IT skills, willingness to engage online and desire to express oneself online has transformed the role of Web users from passive users (merely consuming Web information) to active users (users contribute and consume Web information).