Web 2.0

When I first started reading the 'Reader 1 Professional communication technologies' handbook I got to around page 3 and started to think it was going to take a lot of effort to understand it all!! I didn't really know what it was talking about....I had never even heard of Web 2.0! But as I continued to read I became more and more interested. I then realises that I obviously  am a part of it all! I've had Facebook for around 10 years! I was at college at the time down in London and everyone had MySpace. I am originally from the north of England and lots of my friends were at Manchester or Leeds university. I remember them calling me saying I had to get this thing called Facebook. Purely because I was in London and they were up north I got it as it seemed like a good way to keep in touch. Many people at college still didn't have it but obviously slowly but surely, friendship group by friendship group, it took over all other sites and revolutionised Social Media. I say revolutionised as I feel Facebook it exactly what Web 2.0 advocates....it's free, easy and quick. It is also for everyone. It allows more generations to collaborate, share and interact. When it first started my mum wanted nothing to do with it. She didn't like the idea of having information about herself online I guess. And also she is obviously from a generation that makes more of an effort to actually speak in person to their friends! She didn't think there was any reason to get it. Fast forward 10 years and she and all her friends have a Facebook. Even grandparents now have Facebook! I personally go on Facebook every day. It's the only Social Media site I go on....I've never really understood my purpose for having Twitter!? I love that on Facebook I can stay connected with all my friends and family all over the world so easily. I can share pictures of my travels where 100s can upload in seconds compared to attaching a photo one by one to an email....it got me thinking about how much as a society we expect things to work instantly nowadays. I'll hold my hands up and say that most of the time, if I click on a link on Facebook or go to watch a video and it isn't uploading straight away or I have to wait I usually just leave it. How terrible is that! How impatient have we become! For me that is just the difference between watching a video or not....for businesses a link that doesn't work properly is a crucial error!
Social media nowadays often has people uploading videos before even the police or other authorities see them! Such an occurrence happened just last week with regards to the Rugby World Cup. A fan recorded this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ffU-ANaVads

This was not picked up by the referee or the commentators but by a fan watching the television at home! The player was awarded man of the match! The video then emerged and the player was banded for the following match! This got me thinking how much control the public has with regards to social media and online power. Anyone can post anything!

There is also many apps and sites out there that allow you to be extremely creative. Personalising your pictures is especially popular with sites like Instagram and InstaCollage. It gives the user the power to create. To personalise. No longer do we take a picture and share....we now take a picture, change the effects, photoshop it, filter it, add a boarder, add text, add other images....I could go on! The saying I LOVED from the handbook was 'The consumer is also the producer'....so true. You can reuse and rearrange information and images to make them your own. Which is very appealing to a user. Another sentence that stuck me was 'In Web 2.0 the user can collaborate, connect, critique, share and remix information and communication'. Critique is an interesting one. People are so honest online with their criticism. Maybe it's because they can't be seen so they feel more confident to say how they feel. This leads to the topic of cyber bullying which, having worked in schools with teenagers, is becoming a big problem. The downside of Web 2.0 and also a very dangerous side in my opinion.
A fantastic aspect on Web 2.0 is how strangers from diverse backgrounds can come together. My thought is that they can do this safely too. They can 'act collectively' and it allows so much freedom
to find others with similar views to yourself. Most charities, campaigns, debates will have a Facebook group that you can join. Connecting with people all over the world! Something that would be impossible without Web 2.0. It can facilitate debate and discussion in a safe environment. Obviously,
as with all things, this can be abused. But my opinion is that there is a sense of freedom and confidence to speak your mind, join forces and take action for what you believe in. Often you may not have your full name either or any contact details so people from completing different backgrounds, religions, beliefs can come together and unite without fear.
I found it very interesting reading about all the different processes particularly Gruber's. Google for example generates self service problem solving. I'd never thought of it like that! It finds popular articles with similar queries and leads to discussions of interest relevant to you online. It then states that 'intelligent users can formulate their problems in queries that the search engine matches to online answers'....it sounds so complicated when you put it like that and we all do it daily without any effort! Incredible when you think about it. The fact that you can Google absolutely anything and something would come up....even if you just out one letter in the search engine....blows my MIND! Again, it didn't blow my mind until I actually read this handbook and actually thought about it! Gruber's process states that Web 2.0 will continue to evolve and grow if it:
- Facilitate communication through software
- Allow people to search and find info
- Add feedback themselves
Again, things we take for granted!

Having just moved to Singapore Web 2.0 is key for me. Your phone picks up your location so when you are on Facebook groups are recommended to you based on where you are. This is great for events, networking and meeting people. Also the 'recommended mutual friends' aspect is amazing.
As a teacher I am very aware of never sharing my Web 2.0 details. It's not that I have anything to hide, I just find it very inappropriate to be Facebook friends with students or parents. My new job has an absolute no Facebook policy where you can't communicate with any students or parents. I think it's more difficult when your freelance though as it's an easy way to communicate. I had an
experience myself where a teenage boy I taught during a project some how found out my full name. He was then able to go on Facebook and view all my photos....some I had up were of me on holiday obviously just in bikinis and swim suits. I thought my Facebook was set at private but after this
incident realised it can only be fully private if you change your privacy settings on a laptop, not a phone. Since then I have obviously been very aware of my Facebook profile....the privacy settings of it and also what I post. I never share any of my political views, religious views etc as I think there is always someone out there who will be offended by what you say. I just have my Facebook as a way to message friends and post pictures. Having read the handbook is has got me thinking again about how safe our online profiles are. I decided to Google it and found a great little article '10 tips for staying safe on Facebook'....many of which I don't do. Here is the link:

http://now.avg.com/top-10-tips-stay-safe-facebook-avg/


Netiquette is very important to me. Social media is not the place to rant or be rude. Again, you will always just end up offending someone. Also, from an employers perspective, your online profile is going to say a lot about the kind of person you are. Not having good netiquette could end up ruining your chances. And also be a reason for your job to end! We've all seen articles of people being fired because of videos or images they posted online. Also, it got me thinking back to an earlier blog I did questioning if you can delete things about you once they are on the World Wide Web....

It was interesting to read and relate to online marketing and how many campaigns now target you through social media. It's also crazy to think that computers can save your searches on things like Google and then suddenly ads for these things you are interested in pop up on your Facebook at the side! Scary! I'm always quite wary too of how many emails I get from companies I've never heard of let alone signed up to. How did they get my details? A question many of us ask I think.

So from page 3 where I was switching off and wondering  what on earth I was reading and panicking how I was going to find anything to say about Web 2.0 you can see I have found A LOT to say! It has
been so interesting to stop and question the things we take for granted. But also for me as a teacher, to again revisit my online profile and make sure that I am happy with how I am coming across
professionally. It was crazy to read that Kuehn's article 'Getting into Trouble on Facebook'  discusses the dilemmas that teachers face using Facebook stating 'Teachers are the most vulnerable group from violations of boundary crossing between ones personal and professional lives'. Definitely something to think about.

Oh and one more thing....the Reader 1 states that Wikipedia is apparently frowned upon by academics as it is an un-authored source?!?! I had no idea! That is always my go to site for what I thought was definite fact!! Mind. Blown.