Web 2.0

Another blogger sparked this topic for me, so I feel the need to use our Web-2.0-site to share my thoughts on the issue.

First of all, since I know most of my readers aren’t techies like me, I’ll explain what Web 2.0 is. That’s the new catch phrase of this era of the internet to describe all this new communal/collaborative web space.

Some examples of the original sites vs. their Web 2.0 counterparts:

Just as the “dot com” era came and busted, there seems to be a similarity with this new era. The similarity is that there are all sorts of companies trying to cash in on this “new wave” of the web. Classmates started it, and Myspace is there, then comes facebook, friendster, and more. Some of these sites even ask for your MSN/hotmail username and password so they can “log in” and import your address book, thusly ensuring that they attract more users via invites.

Now, let’s be sure to be clear that there is a lot of garbage out there. Just as there is spam email , there is spam in all forms on the internet. From forums spammers , to comment spammers , Myspace seems to be a place that attracted a lot of such ilk. Spam comes from people who have a commercial interest in getting “clicks”. The more clicks they get, the more traffic gets to a particular site, and the more likely someone is to pay for whatever is on that site. Myspace spam, however, is not that type of spam. It is more directed toward adult content, hence the LDS church leaders warning youth against using Myspace. This is an example of Web2.0 used in the wrong way, or in a way not desirable to many.

Just as with anything though, there is the good and there is the bad. TV watching back in the 80′s was a much-tracked phenomenon that heralded much criticism with regard the youth of America. Now, it’s the internet and video games that have taken over, while most seem to find it better that their children are watching television than letting them play video games or browse the internet. These concerns aren’t unfounded, but are largely fueled by fear, which is, in turn, born of ignorance and misinformation. The web2.0 phenomenon has still stayed under the radar as far as it being a favorite scapegoat (like video games and television have garnered), but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming. Parents are concerned about “chat rooms” and “internet predators” but have no idea how their children might find these things. It is no longer okay to be oblivious to the technology that the children of America play with and utilize every day. Parents need to stop wasting time protesting Bush and get on the computer and find out what is on the internet for themselves. They are stumbling over molehills while staring at the mountains of today’s problems. What they fail to see is that these molehills happen to be the root of ALL of these problems they happen to be griping about.

The internet is not going to magically disappear in a puff of smoke due to its idolatrous ways. The internet has surpassed television as the most powerful medium for learning in the world’s existence, and only continues to excel in that area. It, however, has its major problems and pits. I liken it to the USA. The USA’s problems stem largely from its greatest strength, ie. freedom. There is so much freedom available, that there are a plethora of opportunities to abuse said freedom. From something as little as claiming that a minor fender bender caused the damage on the other side of your bumper (which you caused the week before by backing into something) just so you can get it fixed is an example. Its minor, a white lie, something that you “deserve” because you want to stick it to the man. It is this type of self-centered thinking that is driving insurance costs through the roof. The same applies to healthcare. Heck, even take the way we interact with each other. Neighborliness is a thing of the past, it seems. People are growing more and more distant and are dehumanizing each other, thusly numbing themselves to good human interactions. When you picture the person in the other car as that car, or the driver of the black BMW, and not a person, you are dehumanizing them and making it easier to justify the bad thoughts you are having about them, and more specifically, about the act that they just did. Who cares about the fact that you just did the same thing to someone 8 cars back, it’s that “JERK” that deserves to have his license taken away, because he cut YOU off.

Now, back to the internet. The internet is the master of anonymity, and thusly, dehumanization. Thought crimes, to use a phrase from a famous book, are easier to do when you are “living” in a virtual world. With the web2.0 and the information on the internet becoming ever easier to navigate, it is also that much easier to find yourself at a place you never thought you would be. Now this goes back to the parents. If your kids are doing it, then you need to be doing it to see what they are doing. Never once have I heard someone ask the question as to where the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were while their children were planning mass murder. I’m not saying, or implying, that no one ever has asked this question, I am just saying that it has not been asked very loudly. Is it faux pas? Until someone asks that question, I am willing to say that video games cannot be blamed. People are groping for things to blame, and the easy ones are the ones they fear, and are ignorant about. Blame anyone but yourself sometime, it’s easy. Just ask your spouse if you have ever done that.

The internet is next. Or rather, its here. Sure, it can be blamed for much of the sin going on in the world, especially in reference to pornography, but in the end, people answer for their own actions. Some people might be able to convince a jury of their peers that the internet made them do something, but the man upstairs isn’t so susceptible to lies.

So, what does this have to do with the web2.0? Well, it’s here. It has provided us with some great potential, and avenues for learning that were never before possible. http://briggsfam.com is probably the best example of the web2.0 that I can give you. We have blogs, journals, galleries, commentaries, news, sharing, pictures, bookmarks, email and more just from this domain. This is all from the good fruits that web2.0 has to offer. Sure, there are bad fruits out there as well, but “by their fruits ye shall know them.” This, again, means seeing the fruits as parents so you know what fruits your children are partaking of. Ignorance is no longer bliss, not with web2.0.

 So, if you just want to skip to the end, and get the gist, here it is:
“More, better, faster” of everything does not change anything.  Anything still can be used for good, or abused for bad.  Web2.0 is no exception.  It has its uses, and its abuses.  It’s up to us how we use it.