Having read reader 1 (a number of times) I find myself fascinated by the fact that a term such as “Web 2.0”, previously completely alien to me, is now very much part of my understanding and my vocabulary. Even more fascinating still is the idea that for years I have been involved in this concept without even being aware! The thought of a completely 1.0 Internet experience seems ludicrous to me now, and this shows just how quickly Web 2.0 has crept up on us and inconspicuously become a fundamental tool in many aspects of our lives.
All this new knowledge I have acquired regarding this subject has led me to ask myself the following:
“Is involvement of Web 2.0 in our lives increasing so exponentially that it threatens to have a negative impact on our real-life social and interactive skills?”
The technology itself is of course wonderful. There’s no denying that the things we are able to do from a computer are almost mind boggling. We can hold meetings, publish work, keep track of hundreds of “friends”, acquire directions, not to mention the absurdly large amount of information and resources accessed via Google and other search engines. We can collaborate on a piece of work via Google Docs, express ourselves physically through YouTube, access entire books and published works in the form of ebooks, ejournals etc. I mention but a few possible uses, but there are rapidly becoming less and less things you can’t accomplish by turning on a computer. Then of course there’s the fact that many a thing that would have previously been time consuming, for example collaborating on a piece of work with a colleague to whom you must travel in order to work, is now quick and simple.
My point being; is this a slippery slope?
Without wanting to get too fanciful, what springs to mind is a film I saw fairly recently called “Surrogate”. The concept of this film is that technology has progressed so much that most human beings consider it too big a risk and inconvenience to leave their homes. They rely instead on digitally streaming their entire mind into a “surrogate”; an A.I robot which they send out into the world in their place and control it remotely as if it were their own body.
At first glance, an elaborate and seemingly impossible concept. However, is it so implausible to consider that the tracks we are on could lead to a similar outcome? Are we not becoming “plugged in”? Rather than going to see our friend, we stay in and browse their facebook, leave a few comments, chat, share photos of our lives, even make a video call! Why leave the house when it can all be accomplished through Web 2.0 tools? In fact, why leave the house to shop, socialise, work, play...
Of course it could be said that a lot technological advances have had a smaller but similar effect. Before the telephone was invented, for example, communication was so much more difficult without physically being present and speaking. Before television and radio people had to leave their homes in order to access external entertainment. There are so many tangents I could go off on that I’m having to reign myself in.
To sum up, I am worried that as well as this technology aiding us and helping to make things easier, it is actually starting to encourage us to become lazy and socially inept in the physical world; existing too much in cyberspace.
5 comments:
Hi Liam,
Great post and interesting thoughts about Web 2.0. I'm also shocked at how much I have learned so far, both in using the internet and different applications online and also about Web 2.0 in general.
However I can't help but think about the negative impacts of such technological advancements, especially socially. I refuse to purchase an Iphone, as it irritates me so much when I am out with friends and they are tapping away on the latest 'app' while we are trying to have a 'real' conversation rather than a 'cyber' one. I am already surprised at how much more I am using my internet access on my Nokia smart phone, I am sure with an Iphone it would be annoyingly more addictive.
I also couldn't help but remember how networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry messenger actually helped to organise the devastating riots in London and the other major UK cities this summer. Had these sites not existed, would we have experienced the same scale of destruction? Surely the police would have coped better as there wouldn't have been as many rioters out on the streets? On the other hand, the 'clean up' operations were also organised via such sites. Is it just going to be a viscous circle of pros and cons?
"Is this a slippery slope?" I believe It's up to us to choose. As users I don't believe many of us know or understand how powerful web 2.0 can be. Before I'd had a read of reader one I only knew really about the social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter but there is so much more out there that is really important to us.
I'm not saying that Facebook is not important, it is an amazing way to stay in touch with people from all over the world, share your news photos and videos and basically be involved in an online community.
But there are also sites out there that are helping to cure diseases and save lives. I've just uploaded a blog post about one.
I think that as users we have to decide which direction we are going to take web 2.0 and I think the problem is that the internet is becoming more and more real and so people have to remember that our actions online influence our everyday lives.
Alicia, I think your point about the riots is very valid. I definitely believe that if it wasn’t for social media sites the rioting would never have reached the scale it did. You also make a good argument that the organisation of the clean up operation owed the same sites a lot of credit, and this serves as a perfect example of the “vicious circle of pros and cons” you mentioned.
As with a lot of technological advances, they can be used for both good and bad, and as Emily rightly says above, it’s up to us to choose how we use these tools.
Emily, the point you make about the need to “remember that our actions online influence our everyday lives” is, particularly to young people, extremely pertinent. It is all too easy to detach yourself from what goes on in cyberspace, because it’s all so digitally separate. Of course, with so many of us shovelling a lot of data into web space via Web 2.0 sites on a daily basis, we do have to be careful about what it is we’re shovelling and what the ramifications are.
I think it is important to remember that most of the people on this course are very active people, dancers, actors etc. We aren't about to let ourselves be taken over by technology, I get twitchy if I'm inside for just one day. However, there are many people out there who would quite happily stay in all day, everyday on their computers and playing their games. I believe that technology is just introducing another "discipline". Of course it has fantastic benefits and it is now a way of life, but we have to reign them in and almost teach each other how to use it in an appropriate way. Also, I know this isn't really in the right context, but my brother is an artist, he loves painting and drawing and creating art that you can touch and hold, but due to technology he has had to learn graphic design, 3D and HD technology to earn any actual money now. Personally technology is a bit like a musical, ballet or a play that has been recorded and watching it on television. You see it all with a good view but isn't nearly as thrilling as actually being at the theatre, it doesn't have the same sensory effect. (I'm not sure that any of this makes sense.)
You all have good and relevent points and for the purpose of this course it is vital that we aware of and have dipped into the technical world of 2.0 to use whatever tools available when needed. Of course we will need some of these tools at times in our lives and for completely different reasons. I'm inclined not to be a follower. I communicated with someone recently on FB and when we met up I had almost nothing to say as we didn't connect in any other way. I agree with Jessica and always think that our senses are being used less and less. Ah! the pleasures of watching a ballet production. It is taking over our lives because we are letting it. I agree with Liam, society in our developing world has become lazy and irresponsible.
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