Task 1b
Having just sat and read Reader 1 about professional communications technology it really made me realise how much we use and rely on technology on a day to day basis without even realising it! It shocks me how much things have changed since the traditional days of learning and communicating and I really don’t think we could live in this day and age without Web 2.0.
Gone are the days of web 1.0 where it is about one way communications between the creator and the reader leaving us with limited opportunity to interact or create our own content, similar to the likes of the TV or newspapers. O.reilly shows the development between web 1.0 and web 2.0. It has grown and developed a huge amount and provides opportunity for the reader and the creator to interact where the reader can become the creator. It’s amazing how we can re-create and edit things using web 2.0 through social media such as Facebook, twitter, you-tube and blogs.
Hamilton states an interesting point that reducing the barriers of time,skills,money and financial commitment and making participation cheap, easy and quick people will be more likely to get involved in the processes of sharing and interacting. Ullrich et al says web 2.0 services are constantly evolving and that each platform is progressively developed and replaced. For example I read the 'social media statistics' page and was shocked to see that in 2004 Facebook had just 1500 registered members which started as a small system aiming to bring US college students together and now in 2013 only 9 years on, Facebook has 1 billion users, 604 million mobile users, more than 42 million pages and 9 million apps which proves Ullrich’s point of the services constantly evolving.
Web 2.0 frees people up to be able to do much more with communications and information. We have the choice in:
- How we look
- What we follow
- What we download
- What we share
We are our own creators of how we use web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is so powerful in the majority of people’s lives, most of us keep in touch with friends via Facebook and twitter, find out news on social media before we have even heard it on the news or read about it in the papers. When I am unsure about things Google is my answer and I am sure many of you are the same! One quick click on my phone and there I am with lots of informative information or links to blogs related to my question. However we must be careful not to believe everything we read on social media is true, a lot of the time it is people expressing their thoughts and opinions on things although it is a very intelligent system where it recommends friends, groups, pages that relates to you.
Using web 2.0 as a professional you have to think about the ethical considerations and make sure you are careful about what you say and how others will see you. It was only a few weeks ago that ASDA caused a stir on twitter when the official ASDA page posted a fancy dress ‘mental health patient costume’ causing people who are suffering the illness to post pictures of themselves directed to ASDA and leaving many comments suggesting ASDA was creating a stereotypical image for the illness. This post caused several re-tweets, shares and anger comments which resulted in ASDA posting a sincere apology alongside a huge donation to a mental health charity. This is a prime example about not considering your professional reputation needs.
The technology of Web 2.0 is such a great platform for most people today that we can learn and develop from but I do however feel like we should not completely give up on the traditional ways of communication as there is nothing better than a conversation with someone whether it is a friendly chat or a professional chat. We can always take positives and negatives from both but must remember to take full advantage and usage of web 2.0!
Hello Melanie
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog, it seems that we express some of the same ideas (feel free to check out my blogs!) I especially liked how you described the Asda innocent, I heard this is the news but didn't realise that it was started by a picture posted on twitter. Just proves that Web 2.0 can be seen in a negative light as well as a positive.
I feel that you are absolutely write in saying that we as professionals and businesses need to be careful with Web 2.0 as we are the creators and we can choose what we wish people to see, we need to remember that we are representing ourselves in everything that we say and do.
You mentioned how Hamilton states how Web 2.0 has reduced the barriers of time,skills,money and financial commitment and i do believe this is why it has become more and more popular, in my opinion the people using Web 2.0 are getting younger and younger!
Look forward to your next blog :)
Heather X
Hi Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your posts and liked the way you used the example of ASDA and the twitter photo. I agree that we shouldn't completely give up on the more traditional ways of communication as a proper one to one chat is great. I find traditional ways of communication are become less and less and it's often down to laziness of our generation as it involves more time, effort and sometimes money (for example letter writing). Web 2.0 has solved poor communication problems but in a way maybe created more?
I also like reading you About me and Professional Profile. The personal touch will definitely go a long way but being a dancer too I understand that often when it comes to auditions they are more unlikely to not look at that in your C.V. Having 2 seperate ones gets around this well :)
I look forward to reading your future posts!
Emma x