I think one of the most interesting ideas presented by this discussion on Web 2.0 is the understanding that the people, not just the companies, are creating important web applications through their involvement and submission of data. Without these members and contributors, web apps don't have any new information to work with and sites like Wikipedia and Facebook would no longer function properly. I would love to be a technical writing editor so it is an intriguing thought that a majority of the writing on popular websites is contributed by the general public, not the businesses themselves. Hopefully there's still plenty of information on the professional side to be examined and edited, but still, this transition to Web 2.0 has had an effect on how information is presented online.
Even though its been around for awhile now, Pandora is one of my favorite web applications because I use it constantly and it has become a part of my everyday life. There has to be some very complex algorithms directing the application's selection of music based on the user's input and the connections made between genres, songs and artists are an impressive display of the power the web has to bring together all different types of media for the user's benefit. Though other applications are making great leaps forward into the "web squared" era, there's still not too much that's more exciting than when Pandora introduces a new artist that you wouldn't have known about without the use of this web application.
It is neat to realize that pretty much anyone with an internet connection can set up their own little soapbox on the web. Or that you can harness a huge number of people to create something like Wikipedia. This collaborative effort gives us resources with much greater breadth and depth than would be probable if we just relied on specialized developers. I think though, that’s it’s important to remember that while people have equal opportunity to express themselves, they are also free to be utterly wrong about things. Just look at all of the weird histrionic rumors that circulate the internet just because somebody was misinformed. I realize that the idea is that a large enough group would self correct, but I would guess that we will still continue to need people whose job it is to sort the wheat from the chaff. So, I doubt that we have yet seen the end of technical writing editors and the like.
ReplyDeleteI have heard a lot of good things about Pandora. I haven’t checked it out yet but I think I’ll have to try it sometime soon.
I love Pandora. With the condition of radio here in Pullman I'd have been hard pressed to learn about music newer than 2005 without its aid.
ReplyDeleteThe uncanny ability it has to home in on the essence of why I enjoy a certain band or song is a great example of the whole Web 2.0 principle at work - a really good database of song components and a ton of "corrective" data as people reinforce how related two pieces of music actually are (with thumbs up and down for individual station seeds).
I totally agree with you on Pandora. Not only does the application know what you want to hear based on a song or artist, but it also introduces you to brand new songs that you have never heard before. Personally, I would put on a band, and three songs later is the most catchiest song by an artist I had no idea about. Collective intelligence at its best.
ReplyDeleteI agree that websites like Pandora are made for the public and represent advances in what the public wants, but if i understand right, its not exactly Collective intelligence. If Wikipedia represents collective intelligence, where everyone contributes, then Pandora would have to have the general public contribute to. This is an example where a website has mass success but where does this success come from? the writers, who pick the songs to sync with your likes? or the people who listen to the songs and like the ones provided?
ReplyDeleteJordan brought up the point that companies are also creating web apps to improve whatever problem they are trying to eliminate. Web app creating is something that I think that everyone will be doing, which is starting to occur. Like the Android commercial suggests, over 100,000 apps. 100,000 APPS! Insane, even though im sure many do not have major application that many would find useful but the fact they exist and are there is pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point about who is creating the content. I suspect it's going to more and more be the job of tech writers to find ways of either utilizing the content and/or data generated by users, while also presenting new content in unexpected formats (instructions for your ikea bookshelf on your iphone youtube app?). Good post overall, just make sure to give a few more shoutouts to the reading so I can see that you've done it and get the key points.
ReplyDeleteI like how you stress the importance of user input and how without it, places like facebook would not exist. Most website that we commonly use like google, netflix, facebook, craigslist, etc highly depend on the information we summit.
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