Having read 'Reader 1' the first thought in my mind was to question my own understanding of Web 2.0 as apposed to Web 1.0 by trying to explain in my own words the difference to myself by likening it to other things. The explanation I came up with was:
'Web 1.0 works as a conventional teacher-pupil relationship where the teacher teaches and the pupil learns. The teacher is the one provider of information and the pupil is the receiver of such teachings. Web 2.0 however works as a BAPP style teaching programme. There is no one source of information. Such information is available from a primary source as well as many other sources. You learn from interaction with other students along with tutors and your own self.'
Having crafted this explanation I felt as though a lightbulb appeared above my head. I started to realise how much one uses Web 2.0 on a daily basis and also how much I myself use it. As a user of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and YouTube there is not one day that goes by when I am not using Web 2.0 at any given time. Often it will be the first communication I have with the world upon waking. I will lay in bed, check my Twitter feed, then my Facebook feed, possibly post a status about how tired I am and then engage in some form of communication with a fair few other Web 2.0 users that are equally as tired as I am (and probably also laying in bed) as they either favourite, like, share or comment to my post! This thought then led me on to thinking about the fact that I am actually laying in bed, with no make-up on, morning breath on the go, communicating with people that I would NEVER communicate with in that current state otherwise! How mad is that? I mean how many of us would actually have conversations with our younger siblings friends or our boss whilst we are naked beneath the sheets on a normal day without the use of Web 2.0? Quite frankly I know I wouldn't! But somehow Web 2.0 makes this acceptable. AMAZING.
Anyway, away from that rather delightful subject..
On a broader scale my understanding of Web 2.0 is that it is a tool for people to communicate, share ideas, learn, teach, perform and any other human interaction that doesn't require physical contact. It is a way for people who may never actually get the chance to meet in life (due to living on opposite sides of the world for example) to communicate and build relationships based on a mutual love of theatre, or a shared passion for palaeontology (the study of life-forms existing in former geological time periods), or something else that would have brought like people that lived in the same village together before the use of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 just makes it possible on a geographical scale. If i wanted to I could communicate daily with someone that lived on the other side of the world that I had never met and be able to communicate with them and develop a relationship with them almost as if I had met them. If I wanted to I could probably paint a picture of that person, describe their voice and accent & even provide a description of their appearance, passions and daily routines without even meeting them! E.g, Instagram could show me an image of that person, YouTube could provide me with a clip of their voice and mannerisms & Facebook or Twitter could provide me with an hourly update on their every move and allow me to communicate freely with them. It really is a platform upon which the entire world can communicate.
I used to watch a program called 'Catfish'.
'Catfish: The TV Show follows the stories of young couples who have fallen in love online but have never actually met in the real world....'
http://www.mtv.co.uk/shows/catfish
I feel this is a perfect example of what I have been explaining within this blog.
I am conscious that I have only mentioned and been dwelling on 1 subject surrounding this topic but this to me has been my greatest thought process after reading 'Reader 1'. I intend to re-read this reader and record my developing thoughts but I felt the need to share this instantaneous thought with the world as soon as it arose.
