Comments on: Dangerously overstating the significance of Web 2.0 http://groupblog.workasone.net/archives/00219.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:26:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Tomas Gonsorcik http://groupblog.workasone.net/archives/00219.html#comment-3825 Tomas Gonsorcik Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:07:56 +0000 http://groupblog.workasone.net/archives/2007/02/overstating-the-significance-of-web-20/#comment-3825 I would only like to add one remark on the digital divide aspect of your post and Michael Wesch's video: Good points. It seems that digital divide can be examined both as (a) mere accessibility of the technology and (b) the ability to operate it, such as distributing information and/or creating an individual form for any given content. As for further research, it would be interesting to examine what other variables influence the use of tagging and other web 2.0 tools besides the tech-savvy factor - trust for institutional/corporate forms instead of individual "tags" with respect to the political background of a given social group; level of media literacy... --- This is by all means very interesting topic and it will certainly surface in research in the years to come - especially since web 2.0 concept has been discovered by the corporate minds... I would only like to add one remark on the digital divide aspect of your post and Michael Wesch’s video:

Good points. It seems that digital divide can be examined both as (a) mere accessibility of the technology and (b) the ability to operate it, such as distributing information and/or creating an individual form for any given content. As for further research, it would be interesting to examine what other variables influence the use of tagging and other web 2.0 tools besides the tech-savvy factor - trust for institutional/corporate forms instead of individual “tags” with respect to the political background of a given social group; level of media literacy…

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This is by all means very interesting topic and it will certainly surface in research in the years to come - especially since web 2.0 concept has been discovered by the corporate minds…

]]> By: Michael Wesch http://groupblog.workasone.net/archives/00219.html#comment-3824 Michael Wesch Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:06:06 +0000 http://groupblog.workasone.net/archives/2007/02/overstating-the-significance-of-web-20/#comment-3824 Very nice commentary. You make a very good point about the bias of tagging. Tag clouds everywhere almost invariably end up with "Web 2.0" in large luminous letters. It will be interesting to see if tagging goes mainstream, and if it does, what kinds of things become more prominent in those clouds. As an anthropologist concerned about oppressed and under-represented people world-wide, I agree with your concerns about rethinking governance in any way that ends up favoring the tech savvy elite over others. What I wanted to point out with the video is that the entire process of governance will likely start to change (as it has already) and that we need to be keenly aware of the implications of these changes (as you seem to be). It will not change because of a buzzword phenomenon like "Web 2.0" but because of digital technology more generally - and it won't happen overnight. As changes occur, hopefully people like you and me who are concerned about these things will find a strong enough voice to make sure that others who are denied entry into the conversation can have their voice heard as well. Keep up the great work. Very nice commentary. You make a very good point about the bias of tagging. Tag clouds everywhere almost invariably end up with “Web 2.0″ in large luminous letters. It will be interesting to see if tagging goes mainstream, and if it does, what kinds of things become more prominent in those clouds.

As an anthropologist concerned about oppressed and under-represented people world-wide, I agree with your concerns about rethinking governance in any way that ends up favoring the tech savvy elite over others. What I wanted to point out with the video is that the entire process of governance will likely start to change (as it has already) and that we need to be keenly aware of the implications of these changes (as you seem to be). It will not change because of a buzzword phenomenon like “Web 2.0″ but because of digital technology more generally - and it won’t happen overnight. As changes occur, hopefully people like you and me who are concerned about these things will find a strong enough voice to make sure that others who are denied entry into the conversation can have their voice heard as well. Keep up the great work.

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