Web Wednesday: When Disruption is Good: Web 2.0 Discussed

From Information Resources and Technologies

Ninety-nine years ago this month, the first Model T rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. And as Henry Ford said (perhaps apocryphally), “If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse.” The automobile was a “disruptive technology” – an invention much more than a “horseless carriage,” though that language was initially important to describe a unique device.

Likewise, “Web 2.0” (a term for a new generation of tools on the Internet) isn’t about doing the same old thing better or faster. It’s about doing brand new things – or, admittedly in some cases, doing the same old things so much better and so much faster that they truly become something entirely new.

Is Web 2.0 a kind of technology? Some say it is. Visit here, point your mouse at a spot on the map, hold the button down, and drag it. Notice how the map immediately scrolls – no clicking on an arrow or link and waiting for the page to load. Closer to home, the “directories” search under the new News, Events and Directories feature of the UST homepage offers suggested names as you type. These sorts of “rich internet applications” are a use of the Web not seen until recent years, providing an experience far different from the traditional “search, submit, repeat” process.

But a broader definition of “Web 2.0” notes that today’s Internet fosters connections among people, without respect to the technologies used. (In fact, complicated features cause some whiz-bang Web pages to contradict the philosophy of Web 2.0, as they hinder the ability to separate content from presentation.)

We now use e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, discussion boards, Facebook, MySpace, or Second Life to meet, collaborate, argue and befriend. Without a doubt this is a new kind of communication impossible a few years ago, and these interpersonal connections are the driving force behind the “buzz” of Web 2.0.

As Dr. Michael Wesch explains, “All human relationships are mediated by communication. If we change the way we communicate, we change human relationships, and since society is ultimately based on human relationships, those seemingly minor differences can have a profound effect on society, especially if they become dominant or very popular modes of communication.”

In fact, our exposure to Wesch’s comment itself is an example of how Web 2.0 technologies shape how individuals – in many cases, strangers – relate to one another. Wesch created a video to explain Web 2.0 and posted it on YouTube, available to anyone on the planet with just a few moments of effort. Web blogger John Battelle admired the video and interviewed Wesch, who gladly agreed to respond to public comments. Two dozen people shared their thoughts and Wesch replied in detail, including the quotation above. Going forward, those intrigued by Battelle’s postings might now choose to subscribe to his blog’s RSS feed, where the content could be combined with other interesting writings in a “feed aggregator” application and delivered the moment that it’s created.

This isn’t merely the 21st century version of the telegram or inter-office memo. Tools on the Web allow us to live and learn in unprecedented ways, and IRT is excited to partner with faculty through our Academic Technology Consultants, Instructional Technologies staff, Liaison Librarians, and the new Faculty Center for eLearning to explore these new Web 2.0 “disruptions.”

We look forward to hearing from you!