ISIS 240 Class Readings

I didn't know what Web 2.0 meant till I read Mary Madden's article "Riding the Waves of Web 2.0" It turns out that Web 2.0 is a "conceptual umbrella" that forms the "participatory Web as we know it today" (blogs, wikis, social networking). In a sense, Web 2.0 is the array of multimedia available at our finger tips when we turn on our laptops. For instance, if I wanted to, I could write my own song using apple's "garage band" feature, and put it on youtube, for all of my fans to listen to. Or maybe I'd make a movie using imovie. I could join an online dating service like eharmony, find people in my geographical network on Facebook, or create my very own website to display my artwork.

Madden writes that that wikipedia is one of the poster children for Web 2.0. "The wikipedia entry on web 2.0 is, of course, one of the richest sources of information on the term. MSN's free online version of the Encarta Encyclopedia, in comparisoon, doesn't yet have a web 2.0."

So what do you think? is wikipedia legit? I certainly use it very, VERY often. Anytime i want to know more about some obscure fact, i simply type it into wikipedia. Maybe I want to know the biography of a famous actor, the history of cheddar cheese, or the population of Japan. I find what i want in a matter of seconds. Perhaps my blind trust in this encyclopedia created by users like myself is part of my generation. I think college students use the internet with more confidence, and believe everyone out there is out to do good. Take EBAY, for instance. I have bought many items on Ebay in the last five years, and I've even sold some of my old stuff. It seems kind of bizarre to buy something from a total stranger who could be lying about the product, but ebay has yet to let me down.

There are, of course, many cons to Web 2.0. Pediphiles find it easier than ever to track down their prey. Illegal file sharing has yet to be dissolved. Identity theft happens often. And what about interpersonal skills?? If we are sitting on our computers all day searching facebook or myspace, will the future generations even know how to interact with their peers??