Web 2.0 Library 2.0 Steve 2.0

Maybe that should be Steve 1.5.

I think a lot of the stuff I have learned during Learn & Play is pretty cool. I had been "thinking" about setting up a Flickr account for months. L&P was the push I needed to actually do it. A year or two ago, I had a couple of RSS feeds that kept me up to date with news and sports. I got away from it and forgot about it. L&P was a nice reminder that such services are out there and can be easily incorporated into a digital setting where I visit almost every day. Still, there are things in L&P and Web 2.0 that are, well, just stuff to do.

Here's where a "gap" comes into play. To me, social networking is about personal interactions. It can be one-on-one, small groups, large groups. The difference, and the point where I disagree with some of the "Oh Web 2.0 is the end all and be all" is that to be truly effective and lasting, those interactions need to be face to face. Nothing can replace that.

Andrew Keen wrote an interesting article that discussed the seduction of Web 2.0. I don't agree with much of what he wrote, and think he is just wrong with his use of the Marxism analogy. Still, he has a point that so much of what is being discussed loses some of its impact as each individual waves his own flag (blog) and content gets lost in the collective whole of the web.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/714fjczq.asp

On the flip side, Bryan Alexander writes about the use of Web 2.0 for learning. A key concept here is social networking tools reduce the barriers to entry to the digital world for the average Joe. So we can set up a Keen vs. Alexander debate, both would score points, both would be right and both would be wrong.

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/Web20ANewWaveofInnovation/40615?time=1224605792

I think Alexander's point for using this stuff for learning is more aligned with the way I feel about Web 2.0. I don't have the time to loiter on-line, just like I don't have the time to loiter down at Joe's Bar. Yet by learning about what's out there, I can pick and choose in my utilitarian way and get what I want out of Web 2.0. That's what it really needs to be about; my choice, my time, my way. (Sounds like a fast food commerical from the 70's doesn't it...the more things change, the more they stay the same)