It's no secret that this new collection of social media and networking tools are rapidly becoming more and more common as a definitive part of our lives, and more specifically our generation. There's a lot of talk discussing the horrors and the virtues of these tools, and I thought Tim O'Reilly made some pretty rad points about what they are and where they might go.
His statement that web 2.0 signifies 'the second coming' of the internet is not at all an understatement, but I do think we have to look at it like we did with the original .com craze. After the bubble burst on all the upstart websites in the 90's, few survivors remained. While some people may suggest that this new web craze will burst as well, as we continue to assimilate the functions of these tools into our lives, it seems more and more probable that this new wave of social networking websites will not disappear in the sense that they will no longer exist, they will disappear in the sense that they become so ingrained in our culture that we accept them as a way of life. i mean, i can barely fight off the facebook addiction as it is, think about the rest of our generation, and the one after us!
I also like Tim's comment about collaboration. This generation, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, relies very heavily on the communication aspect of technology. These web 2.0 websites are clearly a reflection of that. Facebook and Twitter are simply giant parties that everyones invited too. Without people at the party, what are you going to do with all these party hats and novelty beer mugs? You've hung the streamers and busted out the thong song, you just need everyone to show up, which is exactly what our generation is attracted to - communication. It's the collaboration and this sort of 'anonymous teamwork' that make these websites work and lead me to my next point - predictions for the future.
As Tim mentioned, it's hard to truly predict what will pop up next, but there is a sort of trend you can follow to get an idea. He mentioned mobile technology as a trend with ever-increasing popularity. Tim, I think this is a real good call buddy. Apple changed everything with the invention of the iPhone, and everyone (companies and consumers alike) have started to latch on to this.
I'm about to go off on tangents and ramble for another four hours, so I'll just sort of wrap this up and say that my one big prediction is that (drumrolllllll....) the people will kill the news. yep. I'm edgy as shit and thats what I think. Allow me to explain. O'Reilly mentioned the Mumbai terrorist situation and i think that's a perfect exmaple. People were using this communication technology to update everyone on what was happening long before the news got any sort of solid story locked down. Another one I can personally remember is the Virginia Tech incident. I was reading a forum online, and the people who were actually living this horrible situation were literally updating everyone on the forum what was hapenning in real time. WHO NEEDS NEWS NETWORKS?! As these web 2.0 tools becoming increasingly assimilated into our lives, we the people ourselves will become more reliant on eachother. The only difference is that we won't even have to speak face to face.
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First of for referencing the thong song in a class blog you win haha
ReplyDeleteI agree with what your getting at here especially with the people of the world killing the news as it was known. With the technology of being linked in at any given time and being able to give live updates to the masses via any form of technology (pick your own poison) people themselves become the reporters. Before a news team can even get a camera man and crew out to a story cell phone videos are making there way around the web. Along with this up to the minute updates before any form of news can hit the street. When it comes to news people themselves are the best most real reporters out there. And with the world being linked in the click on a button who really needs news stations?
Also wether we like it or not social media and web 2.0 is becoming part of a normal day so for anyone to even think the bubble will burt must be crazy.
Lastly like you said our generation relies heavily on technology. How many people can you name that will freak out if they forget or lose their cell phones for a few hours? I can't count that on both hands. As sad as it is to see face to face interaction is dead in some senses. Standing around waiting for an elevator today I noticed every one literally with in touching distance ignoring anything and everything around them because their faces were buried in their phones texting.
I completely agree with you that these new Web 2.0 tools will become part of every day life. Even now it is starting to appear that way. Hence the creation of cell phones with the ability to check facebook, email, etc at any time. This leads right into your next point about communication. Communication is a very important thing for our generation and mobile/technological communication is by far the strongest means for us to do this. We have grow up with technology all our life. Our generation was primarily the first to have and use cell phones, our generation created facebook, we are definitely the generation of technology. I also agree that these trends are going to continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the news is as dead as you claim. No doubt print media is a dead horse. Maybe even the organizations based around print media. But I think maybe there might be a place for news organizations as media aggregators. Not so much social bookmarking news like Digg and Slahdot, but as a potential broker of information prepared to distribute Virginia Tech or Mumbai-style grass-roots info. Maybe. thats my ...drumroll.... prediction.
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