1b: Professional Communication Technologies

I hope I’m not alone in saying Web 2.0 is a completely new concept to me. I have a Facebook account, use Wikipedia and ask Google whenever I need information, but I have never stopped to look at this online network as a whole concept. It is my understanding of Web 2.0 that it is an online community in which acting and reacting is a possibility for everyone. You read an article for example and if you believe parts (or all) of it to be inaccurate you are able to update this information so future readers are not misinformed. You are able to communicate with writers and they in turn can communicate with you so that we able to see things from various different points of view.
            Valtysson (2010) puts forth the idea of the ‘Prosumer’ where the ‘distinction between artists and audience are eroded allowing the rise of the consumer who is also the producer’. This concept helped me to distinguish between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. I understand that Web2.0 is about being able to influence what is out there and about being given a voice. For example; you are not only the reader/consumer of a blog you are then able to comment for everyone to see and therefore become the producer.

 As useful as I think this online platform is, I also believe that it has its floors. The internet is wide open for people who wish to misuse it. There is nothing stopping somebody from uploading false information, which may never be detected. People are able to inappropriately comment on peoples Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Wikis etc and until the appropriate authorities are alerted and have had time to remove them they remain online for the world to believe. At least with Web 1.0 there was a limit as to who could upload information and checks in place to ensure its accuracy, Web 2.0 is based a lot on trust. Trust that people will use it as the brilliant interactive tool that it has now become and that if they don’t others stand up and report them for misuse.

Social Networking is a massive part of Web 2.0 and has been part of our lives for about 7 years now, but it has been around for well over 10. ‘SixDegrees.com’ which is said to be the first social networking site launched in 1997 lasted only 3 years (closing in 2000). Although this was in no way the end of social networking, but merely the beginning. What was to follow was an abundance of dating websites like ‘Match.com’ and sites such as ‘Friendster’, which allowed you to communicate with people up to 4 degrees of separation (friends of friends of friends of friends). These sites soon caught on and a niche in the market for online communication and online “friends” was established, paving the way for the ‘Myspace’ phenomenon in 2003. Since then we have never looked back embracing sites such as Bebo, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and many more.

I believe that Web 2.0 is now a vital part of how we are viewed by others. Our online profile can influence people in so many ways. It is not uncommon for employers to “Google” their staff and if they don’t like what they see your job could be in jeopardy. It is also used by some companies as a more believable C.V if you do not have the correct privacy settings in place possible employers are able to access your Facebook profile, personal blogs and assess you based on what they find.
Although there are always going to be negative aspects to new technologies I think the positives continually outweigh them. Not only can you use the internet to further your knowledge of your chosen profession, you can now also use it to communicate with others who may be able to help you progress. There is a world of possibilities to discover with Web 2.0 and I have only just started to scratch the service. I only hope that with this course I shall be able to get to grips with all the networks and profiles available to me to help develop my career.