Task 1B

Task 1B

What is Web 2:0

This is a question I found myself thinking about a lot during my first week of module one. When I first enrolled on BAPP, I found the whole idea of working from a blog and networking very daunting. I would  definitely consider myself a technophobe! I had never before heard of the term 'web 2:0' therefore read carefully through reader 1 twice and continued to research on numerous BAPP blogs for other opinions and explanations.  I found the whole concept extremely difficult to understand and found myself deviating from task 1B and onto BAPP student you tube channels, casting call pro profiles, Facebook pages and so on. Its safe to say I was very confused. 

Then it struck me.... Professional communications technology is already a part of my everyday life! 
Web 2:0 is a term used to describe the 2nd generation of the world wide web. It aims to facilitate collaboration and interactivity between users. Tim O'reilly is the originator of what describes web 2:0.
Web 1:0 was the original platform and worked in a straight forward way due to the one way communications between the creator and reader; this concept developed over time and now Web 2:0 provides readers with the freedom to interact with the creator and most importantly become the creator. 

'Content creators were few in Web 1:0 with the vast majority of users simply acting as consumers of content' 
Commode G  and krishnamuntly, B (2008)

Tim O'Reilly's web meme below helped me understand web 2:0.

Social network sites, which I access every day for various different reasons such as you tube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all categorized as Web 2:0. 

Three words that spring to mind when i think about web 2:0 are SHARE , LEARN, DEVELOP. 

Share

 Web 2:0 is an internet platform  that encourages and enables participation. It is quick, easy and cost effective to share information on social networking sites about an array of different topics both professionally and personally. This creates a platform for universal communication; information can be shared with vast numbers of users within seconds of posting a blog, Facebook comment, youtube video etc (the list is endless)
A very popular Facebook group called 'The Hustle'  is very successful due to the participation of its members. People related to the Arts in every single shape and form post useful information  in this group about a variety of different things that help each other progress in our community. People do not have to pay and therefore find information on castings and auditions etc free of charge. I often gain valuable information on companies and auditions, however do not often post anything myself.
Spider diagram showing some of the reasons how people use 'The Hustle':

People also use 'The Hustle' to ask questions., for example,   I noticed a dancer asking if anybody had information about a particular performance company. Within minutes the user had many replies  with various opinions on the company. By asking questions such as the above you are participating in the creation and development of web 2:0 for your own learning. Most people are unaware that asking such a question can also teach others. This is where my second word fits in.

Learn
The more people share the more people will learn. People not only learn by consuming information from web 2:0 platforms; They also learn by their input (producing). These are  known as the 'prosumers'. (In a nutshell the more people put in, the more people will get out of it)
The learning element is relevant to our BAPP course. I am now wondering whether our course would work at all without Web 2:0 platforms. I have relied on many other student blogs to help me understand tasks. Without these I probably would have given up! Through Web 2:o, specifically blogging, we have developed our own community. 'Feenberg' and 'Bakardjeka' identified that web 2:0 allowed communities (such as ours) to develop beyond their existing networks and help us work collectively. 
This ties in with Tim O'Reilly's  comment on his blog  ' blogging allows the creator and reader to communicate participatory'.
If people didn't participate by posting on their blogs and commenting on other peoples reflectively to help them improve. This course would be a whole lot harder. How would we know if what we are doing is correct? How would we improve without peoples critical reflections and opinions? How much harder would it be not to be able to look on and comment on Paula's blog regularly? 
By participating in web 2:0 not only are we learning for ourselves, we are developing these platforms for the future,  sharing what we have Learnt to develop web 2:0 for others.

Develop
Ulrich C. 'One of the key aspects of web 2:0 model is that these services are constantly evolving and that each platform is progressively developed and replaced. Ulrich C. 'Why web 2:0 is good for learning and research: principles and prototypes; ACM,pp 705-704
I am guilty of consuming more information than I input, however, after studying web 2:0 i will consciously make an effort to participate more to develop this platform. By blogging me learning tasks is a great start and therefore I will continue too do this regularly.
Ethical issues arise with the developing web 2:0, consumers begin to question whether information from web 2:0 sites such as wikipedia or a reliable source? 


Conclusion 
For me personally, all the pros of Web 2:0 greatly out way the cons and I will no longer take these tools we are freely able to access for granted.