The Job of Organizing

Because the internet has become such an interactive experience in this Web 2.0 world, all users have the capability to organize and share information how they see fit, which is absolutely spectacular! Or is it? It probably depends on the kind of information for which you are seeking. The organizational system of tagging might be more reliable in the realm of more professional and educational online resources because one would assume that educated professionals are those organizing the information, but even then, the way in which information should be organized varies from person to person. Then, one must think about children and younger students organizing this information for the whole world as well. Yikes! Enter, today’s librarian.

The librarian of today, again, looks very different from the one of yester-generation because now there is a responsibility of helping patrons, young and seasoned alike, to know how this vast world of online information might be best organized so to benefit all users world-wide. It is a spectacular thing for all online users to have organizing capabilities if they have the understanding and know-how to do so appropriately. For example, my Diigo tags can only be helpful to others if they are used appropriately so it is important that I make sure I am knowledgeable about the tags I choose. On the other hand, people will always have different ideas about the organization and description of content so occasionally, the way I sort information might not necessarily help everyone. I would say, though, for the most part, if tags are used to describe content in a suitable manner, and this appropriateness is learned by other users so they can do the same, everyone should be able to benefit by this system.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Early one morning this week after awakening again with excruciating joint pain in my fingers (and considering I am nine months pregnant) I was a little worried. Unsurprisingly, like most might, I went straight to the web for answers since it was way too early to phone my midwife. Immediately, my nerves were eased after coming across a discussion board for expectant mothers consisting of posts describing complaints of what seemed like the same condition, detail by detail, right there on the screen. Many offered what their caregivers said about it, some gave suggestions for natural remedies, and some discussed the details about how long these symptoms lasted for them. There was an ample amount of information I was able to receive on just this one discussion board, not to mention all the other pages I had not yet pulled up from my online search.

This is a prime example of Web 2.0. Here, there is not just one master-mind dictating what information is published; there are many publishers, offering different information. The Berger text talks specifically about Web 2.0 this way: a place where anyone can “create, share, publish, and collaborate”, unlike its counterpart of before, Web 1.0. I believe this is how Professor Wesch’s video got its name “Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/Using Us”. We, the “machine’s” users, are the “machine” because we decide what goes on the web, how information is used, and how information is organized. The “machine” is also using us in a way because it is not having to do the work. The users are doing the work for it. The users are creating content, publishing content, tagging content to help organize it, sharing content, etc. Like in the aforementioned example of the discussion board, the users are the “machine” and the “machine” is using them because they are doing the work, providing the information, and thus creating  a collaborative environment.