Web 2.0

"It has become obvious that the machine is here to stay...The sensible thing to do is not to revolt against the inevitable, but to use and modify it to make it serve your purposes.  Machines exist; let us exploit them to create a beauty--a modern beauty while we are about it." --Aldous Huxley

The defining characteristic that separates Web 2.0 from the World Wide Web itself is the collaboration catalyzed by Web 2.0 applications.  As Courtney wrote in Library 2.0 and Beyond, "collaborative writing is a hallmark of Web 2.0" (7). When we add photos to our Flickr accounts, comment on friends Facebook pages, edit a Wikipedia article, or add to a blog, we are adding little bits of information and organization to the Web.  As more people create content and interact via the Internet, the quantity of data expands. When millions of people each add their perspective or advice, the sum of the information is immense.

I believe this immensity is behind the title of Professor Wesch's video about Web 2.0.  "The Machine is Us/ing Us" sums up the nature of Web 2.0.


The concept reminds me a little of stories like The Matrix, wherein machines become too smart and take over.

Since we don't know all the potential outcomes of such large scale data-sharing and collaboration, we could theoretically be creating a thing that is smarter than any human. In fact, we definitely are creating a bank of information that far exceeds what any individual could know or even know how to access.

Without contributors, the Web is useless.  We must add information and categories and links in order to reap the benefits of being connected, so in this way, the Web is "using us."  At the same time, all the information together creates a map or outline of who we are, indicating out interests, habits and purchasing patterns.