I really, really want to denote progressive thinking, as in, continuing to progress with Web 2.0. But I cannot stop returning to “plus ca change…”. Web 2.0 has taught me new tricks and methodologies with the internet and now I am the guru in my life outside Swinburne with nearly everyone in my ken, even my two sisters who are both IT experts. One was in computers in 1965 when they were the size of a large room.
I am a genius almost, or at least really clever, because I am au fait with the “communication-with-the-world and outer space aspect of the web – blogs, flickr, you tube and you name it. To them I have defied their view of me as a sound interpreter of most things modern as new/repackaged versions of the old ways – but with bells on. However, I am becoming a bit of a pariah among my family and friends in dealing with blogs and facebook (the latter I just did the 23 things exercise as I had to).
Where is my well- and often- espoused scepticism?
As Kath would say …I have 3 things to say, or she says something like that:
1 I have forgotten or am now ignoring a lot of what I learnt about the 23 things I had no interest in – google docs, Facebook, LibraryThing, RSS feeds. I admire my colleagues’ testing of the tools we have learnt about - Library 2.0, or why I’m not running off to join the cult just yet; Wikis: Not all that wiki
2 I am feeling like I am about to jilt 23 things. Like many quick relationships, I got a tremendous, and I repeat, tremendous boost out of my new-found knowledge through 23 t and I loved participating with my colleagues in the first flushes of action. I also loved the aura I had, around my family, etc. when I dropped words like blog (for heavens sake) and flickr. Admittedly I sounded like a bit of a spruiker, just as friends and family hyperbolize like sales people/ keep pestering me to get Foxtel to open up a whole new world. I say I do not want or need Foxtel's World Movies or Ovation and to watch more Television. They say I would love it. They seem to ignore that I can watch TV on our old 25 year old model (2nd TV for a program not liked by one of us) and can watch old movies late at night or on the DVD player if desired and I like going to the cinema to watch new movies. We have never recorded TV programs, because we did not bother to find out how, but mainly because we would not find time to watch the recorded TV program which was considered a bit like yesterday's newspaper. While Foxtel is not new, I feel the same lack of interest in new phenomena such as 20/20 cricket or new AFL teams in Western Sydney, coffee chains or popular romantic movies – The Enchanted.
I did love Once and I am so proud to see the song from that movie won the Academy award. I felt like a winner with the actual winners.
3 I see that there are millions, if not billions of people who do not need Web 2.0 and millions of these come to Libraries and get what they want, as librarians have been assisting people do this forever, pre and post Web 2.0.
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I agree, Sara, that it's very easy to get sick of the hype surrounding Web 2.0 and to be sceptical about the extent to which it is really groundbreaking. I feel that way all the time about all of the 2.0 words and themes. However, I guess we just have to pick and choose what we find useful, both personally and professionally, and discard the rest. There are clearly some of the 23 Things tools that you found unnecessary (as did I), but you've taken blogs and blogging to heart and you really enjoy it (which is wonderful; please keep blogging in the future)!
From a professional viewpoint, there's a lot to be gained from Web 2.0 tools -- as long as we don't get too carried away. I think library blogs are a great way of creating a 2-way dialogue between the library and its users, but I'm very reluctant to see us buy into Facebook too heavily (as Deakin has), because it's primarily a social space and many young users may think we're trespassing. On another note, Facebook appears to be taking a nosedive in popularity at the moment -- not surprising considering its meteoric rise to fame and the tendency of many Web 2.0 products to simply vanish overnight.
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