Community, Participation & Web 2.0

In week one of the course, unsure about what indeed the module I had chosen was, I referred to the book Digital Cultures Understanding New Media, edited by Creeber and Martin.

I have to admit I found the first few pages incredibly baffling! Returning to the same introduction a few weeks down the line, however, perhaps some of the content is now less frightening!

In the introduction, it refers to the concept of Web 2.0 being distinct from Web 1.0 "in that its websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information; it includes a social element where users generate and distribute content, often with freedom to share and reuse."

The reasoning behind Web 2.0, Creeber and Martin argue, was based on business and the continuation of the Web. Following the "dot.com" crash, a brainstorming session explored the successes; they looked at companies that had weathered the crash, and discovered that participation was an element that many had in common.

Many sites have succeeded in this endeavour, perhaps YouTube being one of the most notable.

Exploring online communities, I revisted b3ta.com. Created in 2001 and described by Dave Green in 2003 as "puerile digital arts community", they are one example of participation. Sometimes hugely inappropriate, but there are moments of great humour, technical prowess and creativity.

Worth a visit for their "Image Challenge" alone!

Total Immersion

Virtual Reality – a term that, to me, conjures up images of the 1992 movie Lawnmower Man, but couldn’t it be argued that the term has a far earlier reference?

The suspension of reality, the immersion of the stage, perhaps the theatre is the original example of virtual reality. People have always wanted a distraction from the real, but with reference to real life events.

From the 1964 book Simulacron 3, to more modern explorations, such as the Matrix and Existenz fiction and film have explored the concepts of total immersion. Our fascination with virtual worlds has found a place in modern life as we explore and build avatars in games such as The Sims, Second Life etc.

What is the next step? Will we see a future where divisions between real life and the virtual will become blurred?

Interesting developments can be seen in the work of the French company, Total Immersion. Below is an example of "augmented" reality software - an opportunity to create real time, immersive elements into live shows and performances.

Bionic fingers could help 1m | Metro.co.uk

Bionic fingers could help 1m Metro.co.uk

Artificial Identity

I have already referred previously on how digital cultures have transformed the way we identify the self. Social networking has had a wide impact on how we promote ourselves. As technological advancements are now so readily accepted, shouldn’t we worry about where they may be moving?




Dr J Storrs Hall questions the intentions of computers in his book Beyond AI. He explores both the ethical and moral implications programmers may face if/when machines advance beyond human intelligence, but is this just SciFi?



Our notion is that as a human, what sets us apart from machines is our ability to rationalise and think about the world around us. But what if computers start thinking independently - will they rationalise the world in the way we so choose?




“Will we ever need to give robots respect”? Well we are all just machines after all, Rodney Brooks discusses in the above lecture. He doesn’t believe we will create AI that is capable of taking over the world, but maybe we need to feel that for these advancements to take place.

Artificial Identity – perhaps we are all now prone to creating our own “artificial” self online – A.L.I.C.E. and other similar Chatbots may currently give themselves away, but who’s to say that in the future our “800 Friends” on Facebook will all be artificial….!

Artificial V powering down….!