Task 1B - Professional communication technologies

This task scared me the first time I read the brief, what is Web 2.0? I hoped that it wasn’t something highly technical because I’m not great with technology.

My first point source of information was Google; Google always has the answer. However, if I’m completely honest, it only served to confuse me further. It said:

Web 2.0

ˌwɛb tuː pɔɪnt ˈəʊ/

noun

          The second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social media.

I can’t say that definition enlightened me much further so I turned to trusty YouTube; I usually resort to YouTube to learn how to do new things and it has helped in the past in such diverse areas as make-up to knitting to baking tutorials.  After scrolling through numerous videos and listening to a lot of technical mumbo jumbo, I stumbled upon this video made by a group of teenagers;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxID2GQWaqI

It is a great, low tech, insight to what web 2.0 actually is and it has a wonderful stick man animation.

In short, web 2.0 is a term defining changes to how people use the web now, comparing to how they used it back then!!

For our generation who have grown up with the internet it has become a vital part of our daily lives with an ever growing list of applications for communication, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube; it’s a brilliant creation to keep us all connected?

This made me think about the age old argument, are these technological advances a good or bad thing?

I personally am a fan of Web 2.0, I believe that it is a positive asset in today’s society but shouldn’t be overused or relied upon as a sole source of information. I think it has helped broaden our minds and stay in contact with people however, I also feel that it can create a lot of unnecessary drama.

There are a many positives and negatives surrounding Web 2.0.  Here is an article discussing a few of the points; 

http://www.acs.com/web-2-0-%E2%80%93-positive-vs-negative-effects/

I come from a large family and have cousins scattered all over the world, New York, Australia and Canada. When I was younger you had to wait for a postcard or letter to find out how they were or what was happening in their lives and by the time you received the news it was already out of date! Now, with social media sites like Facebook, I can look on their timelines, see pictures, comment on their posts or instant message them and have a full blown conversation at the touch of a button.  Facebook is great for those reasons, it allows you to maintain a connection with friends you make on holiday or family that live far away. It can have its downside however. Facebook used to be a medium in which you could express yourself or somewhere to upload your silly holiday snaps but nowadays you must be conscious of what you are posting and who exactly can see it? I had a clause in my contract that stated I wouldn’t post anything about my job or company on any social media site. As I work in education and want to be a teacher, it is important for me to come across as professionally as possible. I have been through my privacy settings and made adjustments to my name to ensure that students current or previous cannot find me.

It is important to remember that employers and companies are not trying to control your life. No one is going to stop you going out and having fun but at the end of the day  they are just trying to protect their reputation and do not want their company, school, business to be reflected in a bad light. All they would ask is that you think of any implications before posting a potentially embarrassing photo onto the web.

Having a CV has always been important and how you present yourself at interviews or auditions is crucial; however your online presence is becoming increasingly more important. Employers will check your social media account to see if you are the kind of employee they want to represent their company. Once information is on social media or the internet is it very hard for it to be taken down. Many professionals maintain two separate accounts. One for their personal life and the other for work.

Another downside to Web 2.0, perhaps one of the biggest and most common is "trolling". Trolling is when a person deliberately posts outrageous or off-topic messages in group chat rooms with the intent to upset and provoke an emotional response at their own amusement. Trolling is completely anonymous and in extreme examples it can have fatal consequences. 

Is the art of conversation a dying form? I often sit on a train and watch groups of friends all glued to their phones rather than talking to one another. Are they actually communicating amongst themselves via social media? Sometimes I too am a culprit of this absurdity. I will check my phone when out to dinner with my friends or in the cinema. If I have left my phone at home or run out of data it feels like I have lost a limb… I use my phone to find out information instantly or show my friends a video on Facebook or YouTube. I do believe we need to make more of an effort to interact in person rather than being so focused on the cyber world.

I wake up in the morning and I check Facebook and Instagram; I personally check them at least 10 times a day, sometimes I’ll scroll through then check it again to see if any new stories have appeared. The cyber world has such a strong hold over us and it is scary how much information we can find out about an individual at the click of a mouse.

Albert Einstein once said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”

Is Web 2.0 hypnotising us?  Opinions?