On
reviewing the first course reader Professional communication technologies my
first task was to simply grasp what web 2.0 is, a concept that was alien to me,
or so I thought, the more I read I realised that I was more familiar to the
concept than I first thought, the idea that software is free and held remotely,
where content can be added and removed by the users and where the site grows
depending on the strength and amount of information that is added by the
network.
I myself
use these sites on a daily basis, I seek out information on line and find that
google generally sends me in the direction of Wikipedia, I communicate on
facebook, and have a myspace account, youtube is an endless source of
entertainment and inspiration and these are all sites that are based on the web
2.0 technologies.
This blog
is my newest venture into the world of 2.0, and I have to be honest although I make
use of these sites on a regular basis it is not usual for me to be creating the
content, not a fan of the lime light strangely enough for a performing arts
graduate, (probably why I’m a teacher
not a performer) I love to read what others are thinking and doing but tend to
keep my musings to myself, something that I am obviously going to have to
change for the purposes of this course and for the continuation of my professional
development.
I have
found myself wondering about the merits of these sites however, I do use them but
mostly for my own entertainment, and I am always sceptical of believing what I am
reading. I have made a lot of use of the blogs today, seeing what others have
concluded has helped inform my decisions, I guess that is the whole point and
in that sense a very valuable tool. A lot of people say that they use the sites
professionally to network and gain information of castings and jobs and an
opportunity to get in touch with the right people, and again I can see this is massively
valuable, but as a tool of self promotion I wonder how valuable it is, I can
tell you I’m an amazing teacher, but ask me to prove it…
For this
reason I think that these sites need to be used with caution, and although it
is wonderful that we can create networks of people with similar goals and
ideals to exchange ideas and create work we need to be mindful that the content
is created by anyone, with any agenda and the information that we are reading
and sharing may not be 100% accurate, I saw that Paula had commented saying
that sites such as Wikipedia are great places to start but further information
and evidence must be sought and I think this is something that we should always
be mindful of. It is not just the danger that we may post something we wish we hadn’t
that casts us in a bad light but that we might be mislead by the content of a piece,
and form decisions that are not entirely based on truth.
So in
conclusion, my first thought on this reader are that web 2.0 is a valuable professional
tool for creating networks, forming relationships and sharing ideas, I have
been doing it all day by reading people blogs, and hope people do the same by
reading mine. It is a great tool for getting noticed and getting out there, as long
as you’re sure to only share what you want people to know. But that we should
be cautious of what we read and what we believe as really there is no one
monitoring the content.
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