In “Everything is Miscellaneous” the chapter that resonated with me the most was chapter four. Within that chapter it spoke about how items are organized. Lumpers and Splitters, which I related with because this concept, to me, can be very visually stimulated. The way items are organized, either physically or digitally; one can see the line of connections to get from one point to another. Like the books title states—“Everything is Miscellaneous” within the Internet nothing has a specific spot at a specific time. Things/information can be anywhere and anytime. A junk drawer. However the cool thing about the Internet even though the information is in fact a miscellaneous drawer it is organized and allows someone to get the information they want fast. This is where I believe web 2.0 comes in very nicely. The Internet is now designed to work best with it’s users. With web 2.0 it allows the user of the Internet to be involved and create an endless space that best meets their needs. With Youtube for example, it allows the users to leave comments, showcase how many views there has been and overall gives the viewer power to let others know their opinions. This system of letting the user determine the quality of something has in turn helped with weeding out what is “good” and “not good”. This is like clearing out what things in the junk drawer is used most often and what is not. Like Weinberger’s example of silverware. The shrimp fork is still there but who really uses that thing on the daily. It can be found but it’s not the most popular. This selecting and voting system goes further then entertainment purposes but helps get information to the user quicker when they use search engines as well. Take Google, with the voting of it’s users and tracking what is being searched most often one the most popular and reliable sources will be presented first. This is due to the help of spiders, which in turn allows a user to gain information and contribute to the process. Over all I find Weinberger’s analogies and metaphors for the Internet very helpful in understand the digital world and how I am apart of it. Web 2.0 can semi be confusing but when thinking of it in terms of physical objects such as a fork can put concepts in perspective.
When you are talking about weeding out the good and the bad, you hint there are things on the Internet that are bad. Isn't it all a matter of perspective? You refer to characteristics of the "Long Tail", but to me it seems like you think that it is bad to have niches. Do you?
ReplyDeleteThis is very well written and was a very informative read! The idea of the junk drawer in relation to things being miscellaneous but organized really helped me understand the main concept. Weinberger does a great job using metaphors and analogies as well ( which you point out) The web really does represent the real world in so many ways, it is very beneficial to then learn about in it terms of metaphors found in the real world.
ReplyDeleteNice job explaining some of the connections you see. You do a particularly nice job when it comes to examples. What would help, though, are just to cough up some specific quotes from the reading (particularly the Web 2.0/Squared ones) so that I can really see you digging into the ideas from the articles and not just from class discussion. You do a nice job w/ Weinberger on that front, but the articles could've used some more love. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have trouble seeing the internet as anything more then the mob. I think in this sense it is the exact opposite from probability. If I flip a coin there is no way to tell if it will land heads or tails. But if I flip a thousand coins I can safely assume that about 50% will land heads up. On the internet it is easy to predict the action of an individual. We even have a name for this sort of prediction. It is called trolling. When someone sets out to troll they use a statement that they know will offend the person they are targeting. However when it comes to a consensus on what is good and bad in internet land I feel like it is never plain as good content = more interest. Sometimes the internet vaults sites to popularity that deliver very little in the way of quality content.
ReplyDeleteMore and more we are seeing of Web 2.0. User input has grown to include comments and reviews on well, basically, everything. This can be useful to the users of the internet but sometimes all that information the users contributed can be overwhelming, which is why weeding out the good and bad is even more important in this limitless space.
ReplyDelete