This morning Chris Brown posted a video about Web 2.0. I had in a tab all day, waiting to get enough work done so I could view it. Now that I’ve had time to view, I wished I wouldn’t have waited.
The video is a beautiful illustration of how ‘Web 2.0‘ is changing the way we use the net. Now I’m not all that fond of the term Web 2.0; it’s way to over used. But I understand the concept. The web is changing. We’re moving from websites being ‘isolated information silos’ to them being a source for social interaction, conversation and community with a level of interactivity that’s never been see on the web before.
Michael Wesch’s video illustrates this much more effectively than I can speak about it, so take a look.
Oh, I just saw that Ben Yoskovitz ‘beat me to the post.’
Wonderful, wonderful video. Thank you, Dawud, for highlighting it.
I remember the shock and awe that I felt when I read the Wired article that is referenced in the video. The premise that the web is a living thing, fed and nurtured by our every link, connection, and upload rung true down to the very core of my being.
My own professional investigation into the workings of the human body/mind had led me to the conclusion that we are defined on every level- social, personal, anatomic, physiologic, biochemic, sub-atomic- by relationships.
It is not the things themselves that matter, it is the relationships among them. Relationships are created by connections, and connections create consciousness.
The web is alive (and conscious)unlike any other technology that we have ever created.
And thanks, Dawud, for helping my own site participate in it.
Certainly Travis. I’ve always thought of the web as being much more than just a huge network of computers. Behind those computers are people. And it’s this ‘Web 2.0’ that’s putting the focus on the web being about people.
Yes, I agree that Web 2.0 is putting the focus back on people, but my main point is that the complexity and depth of the connections between people that are being laid down may be creating a consciousness that is somewhat independent of us sitting at keyboards.
It might not be happening yet, but at some point when a system reaches enough complexity, non-linear, unpredictable things start happening.
These “emergent properties” rise directly from the connections that all of these blogs create.
I’m relatively new to the web, so maybe you can help me out with some more concrete examples?
Wikipedia jumps to mind: open-source, editable, free, and remarkably resistant to tampering. It’s a new kind of beast that couldn’t survive without the millions (billions?) of connections that keep it alive.
Does that make sense?
Yes, it does. One thing you can say is that the web moves and fluctuates faster than any of us can think. Who knows what’s possible.