TASK 1B Thoughts on Reader 1

Web 2.0 is a term I never heard before and to make sure everybody knows what I am talking about I will give you a concise definition of this term by quoting p21 of Reader 1: “Web 2.0 refers to a second-generation of web-based communities, and it provides the opportunity for the reader and creator to interact and more importantly, for reader to become creator.”.

Whilst reading this chapter my head was bursting with a variety of different thoughts and feelings.

I’d like to start with one particular word I came across during the reading that made me enter into a cycle of infinite thoughts: “INTERACT”.

In particular, I want to share with you this sentence I came across:

 “Web 2.0 advocates that through making participation cheap, easy and quick people are more able to get involved in the process of collaboration, sharing and interaction”

I have to admit that after reading this I felt pretty frustrated.

It seemed to me that this definition was meant to give a high and positive connotation to the term Web 2.0, but actually to me it didn’t.

It just reminded me of the huge amount of negativity, envy and hate that there is out there.

When participation and interaction wasn’t that “cheap, easy and quick”, when people actually needed to have the guts to say their thoughts face to face without hiding behind the comfort of their desktop, when your ideas and thoughts after being said were irreversible because there was no such thing as a delete button, people used to think 10 times harder before sharing their opinions out there because consequences were much stronger as interaction was REAL and not virtual.

Instead of “The democratization of the web” as defined by Reader 1, Web 2.0 in my opinion is the “anarchization” of the web as there are almost no rules out there. Everybody feels like they have the right to comment and say whatever they want just because they are entitled to have an “opinion” regardless of the impact those opinions have on other people’s feelings.

I also disagree with this statement found on the chapter: “If you are rude or inconsiderable, the platform works to shut you down.” What? When? Where? Please do let me know. It’s scary the amount of comments/videos I have reported on Facebook for being incredibly violent, racist, sexist, etc. and the answer I’ve received it’s been that the comment/video meets their community standards… how does the video of a screaming kitten being burned alive meets their community standards?? and people commenting under the video with jokes about it? How is that even okay?! It wasn’t even my choice to watch such video, but now videos on Facebook start alone when they come on your wall without giving you the chance to choose.

Please don’t get me wrong. I do not condemn the idea behind the creation of Web 2.0 as UTOPICALLY it’s a superb invention that has infinite positive connotations attached to it, but I condemn the wrong use people are giving to it.

Google for example it’s the fastest and most efficient search engine ever created. Every answer is just one click away, and I’d feel lost without it, but there is a negative side on this too. We are a generation that does not sweat for things. Answers are all there, one second away. That makes it much harder to memorize new information. For example, when there was no internet and you wanted to search the meaning of a word there was a whole process that you had to go through. First you needed a vocabulary, so if you were at work or in the middle of the street, you couldn’t get the answer straight away but you had to remember about the word or write it down somewhere to search it once you were home. That’s already an extra process that nowadays we do not do. Writing a word by hand, the shape of each letter (that’s why typing does NOT count as writing) you are utilizing a certain part of the brain that will allow you to remember that word more easily. Once you are home, and have the time to have a look in the vocabulary you’ve already thought about that word at least 3 times in a day! Nowadays we have a doubt, we look it up on Google one second later, and in probably less than 30 minutes the notion is gone. Of course there are some exceptions, but it works like that for the 90% of things we look up on internet.

We are also more impatient. Being used to having everything immediately we get easily stressed when waiting for things, even if it’s just few minutes. If you disagree think about that time your internet connection was not great and the web page took about a minute instead of 3 to 5 seconds to upload… wasn’t that making you feel stressed and nervous? And yet it was just 1 minute!

From a professional point of view Web 2.0 makes the life easier under many circumstances e.g. uploading self-tapes, sending CVs, getting in touch with directors, or applying for jobs but again I see some negative sides about it. Web 2.0 makes people more vulnerable. Back at the time where internet did not exist the only critics/reviews you had as a performer were from the press or word of mouth. Nowadays EVERYBODY can review anything they want. Being the Arts such a subjective industry no matter how good you are there will always be people who don’t like what you do, and they’ll make sure you know that in the best way they prefer. Yes, press can give negative reviews too, but they are professionals and hopefully able to give a negative comment without making it against an individual as a person, but just against the performer/performance.

Another negative aspect is that being so easy to apply for a job nowadays, there is far more competition out there. That means that you need to work much harder to get the job, and having such a vast demand the job requirements are getting stricter and stricter to narrow down the amount of people who will be taken under consideration. That means that you always have to specialize in more and more detailed and varied things, learn new skills, and have great experience.

In conclusion as you have probably already understood I am quite against Web 2.0 as although it has offered lots of innovation it has taken lots away too. I have recently noticed that internet is not an option anymore. You are forced to work with it. Few months ago I wanted to close all of my accounts (Facebook, Twitter etc) trying to live more in contact with nature and taking care of my face to face relationships, but it was impossible. I am forced to use it as it is a requirement now. Just as an example without writing this blog on the internet, and doing the Skype calls together I wouldn’t get my degree no matter how good, qualified or committed I was for this course, I would have failed because I was missing a vital part of it. It is not a hobby or just an entertainment anymore, it is a basic part in our daily lives and this actually scares me. It makes me feel as if I am not actually free of choosing how to conduct my life. Leaving the internet for then having no job, career, nor friends because most dynamics/events happen virtually is not really an option is it.

It’s also true that humans tend to ask for what they don’t have. Maybe if I could go back in time and live with no internet I would regret not having the Web 2.0… who knows?

Lastly I'd like to thank Matt and Jennifer in particular for writing such great blogs as they gave me lots of interesting stimulus to write on this task!