There was a turning point in this assignment that I will forever be grateful to the subject for. It was when I realised that those linked into web 2.0’s potentials weren’t the ones out of sync with the real world. I was the one not in sync. The way information is gathered and disseminated has changed and whether I work in the field of information management or not, if I want to understand and engage in our world it is important that I explore the potential of web technologies. The Internet and its applications are also incredibly exciting, once you get into them, and this is what this assignment has forced me to do. I am now excited about the world online.
This does not mean that I am not still cynical about this online world’s ability to improve our lives on a grand scale - and I still don't trust it enough to forsake pen and paper altogether. But I can certainly appreciate the value of web technologies. Though searching for information can be faster and easier with the range of web 2.0 tools available, it requires time to set these tools up. Also, many sites just enable me to search for information that is completely useless and often incorrect. I also tend to do an awful lot of printing, but perhaps that is just me being old fashioned. I can see the potential of Twitter but I need to log onto it more often. I don’t have Internet on my phone (I know, so 2008) so I don’t really feel linked into the short, regular, instant-information, message world yet. But I am determined to make more of an effort on that front.
What I can no longer be ignorant about is the web’s ability to spread information faster than anything before it. I am eternally grateful to my RSS feeds for the range of information I receive on a regular basis and to my group members for introducing me to new concepts and resources.
I have realised with this assignment that to get the most out of my own little digital world (and with my own bookmarks, RSS feeds and blog it does feel like my own) I need to set some time aside to organise it more efficiently. I need to bookmark more often and more effectively. At work I need to log into my sites (Delicious, Twitter, Google Reader) and keep them buzzing away to tap into when required. It is a new way of working for me and is going to take some time to get used to. But at least I now feel connected to the other (very real it turns out) digital world.
Throughout this assignment is was also easy to get caught up in the small stuff (I spent an hour creating my Twitter wallpaper) and there was a lot of frustration along the way. I fiddled around with my bookmark icon for ages trying to work out how to move it from the top of the page where it had been sitting for days. Only tonight have I found the .html script gadget on the side bar, the time I would have saved if I had noticed that earlier! I also seem to be following fellow group members as a Gemma Walsh on Google Friend and WalshGemma the blogger, which seems convoluted and strange. I have obviously done something wrong there…
Working as part of a group has also been a rewarding part of this assignment, though I fell like we are all just starting to get to know each other. The six weeks has flown by, there was a lot to cover and I know I didn’t communicate with others as much as I wanted to. It has been great to share our experiences and I certainly feel less alone doing this assignment when linked with a group.
Though this is the end of this assignment it is certainly not the end of my Web 2.0 adventure. I don’t think I could have imagined I would learn so much in six weeks. The adventure has only just begun.
7 hours ago
