Saving Doug’s hair - What’s Web2.0 about?
Over at Doug Jacquier’s blog, Doug is “doodling and sctratching his head” trying to answer some questions posed to him from Jody Mahoney at Compumentor about Web2.0. This is what I think - he asked for it!
I see two main things happening that what is termed Web2.0 is shaping and in turn, is shaping Web2.0 (culture drives technology, technology enables what the culture desires - see my post here and here for my thoughts on, and links to, Supernova address by Linda Stone as to the interconnectedness that exists there)
First, as an extrapolation to a bit of Vince Holt’s comment on Doug’s post, I think it is not so much about “migrating from” a publishing platform as it is about making the platform more accessible to individuals and that thereby makes it more equitable. It is that change that makes the development of ‘community’ more possible.
Second, it’s about ways of distributing that published content that fit the culture and the age the people exist in - context.
There’s lots of issues and benefits and technology and ideas around those, but I see them as the core.
In generalist terms, things such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, vidcasts fit into the first. RSS, OPML, issues of Attention/Time-shifting fit in the second.
To get to Doug’s specific questions:
1. What’s *really* new on the Web, as opposed to buzzwords and sound bites?
Free, uncomplicated, no-knowledge-required personal publishing and cross-platform distribution.
2. Which tools best embody the new opportunities from your point of view and why?
Blogs, RSS agregators, Podcatchers, Tagging tools (delicious, technorati, feedster etc) on user level.
AJAX, XML/RSS, OPML, Folksonomies, podcasting on tech/behind scenes/user interface level.
3. Who’s doing the best work with the new tools (technically or in terms of social benefit or both)?
Technically- Too big, too many to list.
Social- Too early to call. Lots have huge potential.
4. What’s the bad news? What are the greatest barriers preventing web-based technology from producing social change?
- Same one that existed with Web1.0 and prior - equitable access to the technology.
- Education as to its use and benefits. (Uplifters required)
- Fear of technology and change.
- Fear of real or conceived privacy problems. (Identity issues)
- ‘Walled garden’ thinking and attitudes. (cultivation of ‘openness’ and ‘trust’ required .. will come as stronger connections come in response to desire for focused attention)
- Old habits and past traditions (ref Cluetrain, subversion).
[tags] cu06, web2.0, community[/tags]
Nice post Dave. I have been following some of the stuff you have been doing for a little while now. I am very new to the WEB 2.0 stuff and, as with Doug, am trying to get my teeth around it all. I guess the toughest thing for me initially is not only to understand the various players like Technorati and such but also how they all link together and then of course, how to use them. My early objective is to put some really simplistic information in place to help train my basic computer trainer volunteers and other really novice users that don’t have any IT background at all.
Keep up the great work!
Comment by Vince Holt — January 23, 2006 @ 6:55 pm
LearnDog’s contribution to Doug’s question
Doug asks for some input to four questions in his post entitled “Does an online ballet dancer wear a Web 2 tu?”. Dave the LifeKludger shares his thoughts on his blog, Vince and others have posted comments to Doug’s post.
Trackback by learndogpup — January 24, 2006 @ 9:17 am
Thanks for all the thought and experience that’s gone into this, Dave. I’ll be tapping into it heavily in preparing my response to Jody, which I’ll post in the next few days.
Comment by Doug Jacquier — January 24, 2006 @ 10:35 am
Vince. As you point out, we are at that point of providing basics about the new oportunities. I get dejavu all time of the early 90’s when I used to explain what a modem was before presenting our bulletin board service.
This type of instruction, assistance and exploring together seems to be what has been termed ‘Uplifting’. After the ConnectingUp 06 conference, a few of us are thinking about doing some post-conf. workshops to allow attendees and others interested to do some ‘uplifting’ together.
Dave
Comment by dnw — January 24, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
That’s OK with me Dave as long as your not uplifting anything I am wearing LOL. Cheers to ConnectingUP 06!
Comment by Vince Holt — January 24, 2006 @ 10:35 pm