While browsing the internet today, I have come up with some great examples of web 2.0. In simple terms it really is just socializing online. I could even so as far as stating that the internet is about sharing. And the great thing about the internet is that it is becoming more portable with its existence on mobile phones. Just this month, an American Masters student was able to use twitter to free himself from an Egyptian jail with the help of his fellow twitter friends. According to the article, although twitter was not intended for such use, urgent situations like this case are using micro-blogging as a means of communication.
The internet is continually changing its format due to social networking capabilities increasing with the help of technology and as well as large internet companies. Yahoo has just started re-organising their services around a social networking concept. The changes come after Yahoo recently inherited social websites del.icio.us and flickr. This is an example of how social networks are becoming the basis for the internet. However, the large corporations that seem to be controlling how we use the internet are only becoming more powerful. Although one of the questions that is hard to predict is the changing ownership of internet software. Currently, the largest of the companies include Yahoo, as well as Google, Microsoft, and Time Warner. These companies are all known for buying up other companies as well as building new software to keep up to date with innovation. Though it is clear that popularity of websites can change over time as new technologies enter the market. One current example is AOL and its decreasing popularity since Time Warner acquired the company. This explains the difficulties involved with keeping websites relevant competing with the leading technologies.
Apart from web 2.0 being about social networking and a constant update of everything, competition is a large part of web 2.0. Twitter has its rival, Jaiku, and Hulu provides competition to YouTube. One of the reasons why this is common is a result of the overall success of any social based medium on the web. Take a look at Cyworld and the answer is clear. Cyworld uses 'clubs' to network people with similar interests. These may be sport, entertainment, fashion or even political interests. The fact is, this is an example of how the internet is bringing back a focus on community. The great thing about using the web for this is that the network is so vast, it does not really matter how much of a niche area of interest, there will always be someone with interests like yours.
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2 comments:
Trina,
I really enjoyed reading this blog. It’s fascinating to think of all the things we are now capable of thanks to the introduction of Web2.0. I think you gave a really good outline of the big names on the internet today and there is definitely a strong focus on community building evident in a lot of the popular sites. It is indeed true that finding people with similar interests has become much easier thanks to the net. As outlined by Jenkins (2002, 161) the web enables knowledge-sharing on a global scale and therefore we have access to a much broader range of perspectives. Speed and frequency of communication enabled by the net has also intensified social bonds that would have been unable to exist before its introduction (Jenkins, 2002, 161). In today’s online world people who are geographically isolated are able to feel much more connected (Jenkins, 2002, 162). Evidently, the ease of production and higher visibility provided by the net has also empowered audiences which is an issue I explore in my own blog, ‘Power to the Audience’.
Jenkins, H. 2002. Interactive Audiences. In The New Media Book, ed. D. Harries, 157-170. London: BFI Publishing
This is an interesting post, with many Web 2.0 companies listed as examples of Web 2.0 websites, but unfortunately I feel that this blog falls short of fully describing web 2.0. You even fail to answer your own question which is "How is Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0.". It is quite impossible to compare two things if you don't clearly define each one and then point out the similarities and differences. A good example of a blog that achieves this is here.
Another short-coming is your over-simplification of Web 2.0 as "just socialising online". This is just one of many aspects, but I think the most important concept to grasp is the transition from Web 1.0 (top-down, one-way, media to consumer communication) to Web 2.0 (distributed networks of consumer generated content based around produsage.) Even though produsage is a made up word (at least it's not as bad as "Usator" [User + Creator] coined by Gerd Leonhard), I think the underlying concept of produser deserves merit and should definitely be included in any definition of Web 2.o. Sorry if this all seems critical but I'm trying to give some constructive criticism.
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