Recently, I was asked to view a video on web 2.0 tools at http://youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g
Professor Wesch, the creator of the video created the title to cause us to think, and to realize our own interconnectivity with the new web.
The concept of web 2.0 Is not really a new thing. How we relate to it and how it will affect our cultures and our world are ongoing questions. The question though is what does it mean to say “The machine is using us, is us”
Web 2.0 is a series of tools and ideas meant to allow us to be more creative, more efficient and more interconnected in the sharing, collaboration and creation of content that is available. This global machine of virtual connectivity dominates the lives of many. As we wake up many will turn to their facebook, or an rss feed, or perhaps a personal webpage that combines many different functions. We are becoming more and more dependent on the machine of applications and interconnectivity to perform our daily routines and many cannot imagine a world where that is not the case.
However the “machine” is also us. The content which we rely on is created by others, whether I it is a simple application such as twitter or a site that collaborates information such as wikis that content is created by people. We create the content for others to use and thus we ourselves are the machine. It is a symbiosis of a sort, and provides for many new options but there are many questions to which we ourselves must also answer. As we progress further into digital applications and uses, and then into the next evolutions of technology we should not only continue to adapt but ask ourselves how are we affecting and being affected..
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