Information Services “Web 2.0” Ian Wilson, Portal Team Leader Web 2.0 According to ‘Wikipedia’: “Web 2.0 is a trend in World Wide Web technology and web

Information Services

“Web 2.0”

Ian Wilson, Portal Team Leader

Web 2.0

According to ‘Wikipedia’:

“Web 2.0 is a trend in World Wide Web technology and web design… such as social-networks, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies, which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users.”

The fundamental concept is that the user moves beyond simply CONSUMING content and starts to PRODUCE it. This has significant sociological, psychological and emotional implications, as well as cultural (in particular for businesses, but also concepts of identity*…)

* “digital footprint”


“Web 2.0”


Social Networks…

…focus on the building and supporting of online communities of people who share interests and activities

Primarily web based they provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, etc.

The main types contain directories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust. Popular sites now combine many of these, with MySpace, Bebo and Facebook being the most widely used followed by Hi5 (in parts of Europe), Google's Orkut (in South America) and Friendster elsewhere.


“Web 2.0”


Wikis

Using software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily, these collaborative / community websites are referred to as wikis; for example, Wikipedia. Wikis are being installed by businesses to provide affordable and effective Intranets and for Knowledge Management.

Wikis are generally designed with the philosophy of making it easy to correct mistakes, rather than making it difficult to make them. Thus, while wikis are very open, they provide a means to verify the validity of recent additions to the body of pages. The most prominent, on almost every wiki, is the "Recent Changes" page—a specific list numbering recent edits, or a list of all the edits made within a given time frame.


“Web 2.0”


Blogs

Short for ‘web log’ many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments is an important part of many blogs.

As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs. Gartner forecast that blogging would peak in 2007, leveling off around 100 million due to the novelty value of the medium to wear off with new bloggers offsetting those who abandon their creation out of boredom. Estimates are more than 200 million former bloggers have already ceased posting.

Posting OPINION brings other issues such as Blurring with the mass media, Defamation or liability, (un)Employment…


“Web 2.0”


More terminology !

Social Computing“Easy connections brought about by cheap devices, modular content, and shared computing resources are having a profound impact on our global economy and social structure. Individuals increasingly take cues from one another rather than from institutional sources like corporations, media outlets, religions, and political bodies.”

Reputational Systems“attempt to determine ratings for a collection of entities, based on the opinions that those entities hold about each other.” such eBay

Recommender systems “attempt to present information items (movies, music, books, news, images, web pages) that are likely of interest to the user.” such Last.fm or StumbleUpon


“Web 2.0”


Why bother ?

There are many drivers but two examples are:

Social networking capabilities can help organizations capture unstructured tacit knowledge and awareness. The challenge then becomes how to distill meaningful, re-usable information from tools such as blogs, online communities, and wikis...

In other words Knowledge and Awareness Management

Society outside of the University is changing and we have a responsibility to support the education of our users (students and staff) so that they are equipped to operate effectively in these environments.

Warwick have pioneered this with the promotion of their Blogs to help students gain writing skills and a digital footprint to underpin their CV and therefore future job prospects...

In other words Personal and Professional Development


“Web 2.0”


Wiki observations 1

In-the-Flow wikis enable people do their day-to-day work in the wiki itself. These wikis are typically replacing email, virtual team rooms, and project management systems.

Above-the-Flow wikis invite users to step out of the daily flow of work and reflect, codify, and share something about what they do. These wikis are typically replacing knowledge management systems (or creating knowledge management systems for the first time).

In-the-Flow wikis get heavily used while above-the-flow ones attract more sporadic contributions... the challenge of getting people to use above-the-flow wikis is an above-the-flow thing, not a wiki thing.

Left to their own devices, people don’t collaborate very much in above-the-flow ways. That was one of the great (if depressing) learnings of the Knowledge Management movement.


“Web 2.0”


Wiki observations 2

If we’re serious about Web 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0, we should think of ways to put contributions in-the-flow, as opposed to above it. There are a couple ways to do this. The first, and most obvious, is simply to say something like "This project will be managed via a wiki, not email, project management software, etc." This doesn’t redefine anyone’s job; it just changes one of the tools used to do the job.

The other course of action is to change a job definition so that what was previously above the flow moves into the flow. A few academics and administrators have been using or investigating using wikis (eg. for their projests or courses). Some of them report ‘anaemic activity’, which is not surprising given how busy both staff and students are. For them, wiki participation is clearly ‘above the flow’.

So a take home message could be: ‘instead-of’ not ‘as-well-as’


“Web 2.0”


Concept of ‘ties’ 1

None

Potential

Weak

Strong

wikis let strongly-tied collaborators get their

work done better, faster, and with more agility than

was previous possible

social networking lets workers to stay in touch with a large network of

colleagues, keeping up to date with what they're doing, working on, and producing; it also lets

him/her tell this network what they’re up to.

blogs are tools to convert potential

ties, strong or weak, into actual ones


“Web 2.0”


Concept of ‘ties’ 2

For more information on E2.0 theory go to:http://blog.hbs.edu/faculty/amcafee

Tie Strength

Potential Benefits Technology Example What is Emergent?

Strong Collaboration, Productivity, Agility Wiki Documentation

WeakInnovation, Non-redundant information, Network bridging

Social Networking Information

Potential Efficient search, Tie formation Blogosphere Team

NoneCollective Intelligence Prediction Market Answer


“Web 2.0”


So what is E2.0 ?

‘Enterprise 2.0’ describes specific social software tools that have been adapted for (business) enterprise use and include…

Which are all very well but what determines if they will be adopted ?

• search tools, • wikis (knowledgebases)• weblogs (storytelling)• social bookmarking (tagging and building organizational folksonomies), • RSS (signaling)• collaborative planning software (peer-based project planning and management)• social networking tools• mashups (visualization)• prediction markets (forecasting and identifying risks)


“Web 2.0”


Enterprise adoption if…

Technologies • Tools are intuitive and easy to use • Tools are egalitarian and freeform • Borders seem appropriate to users• At least some of the tools are explicitly social• The toolset is quickly standardized

Support for the Initiative

• Incentives exist, and are soft• Excellent gardeners exist • Patient and dedicated evangelists exist• Energy and activity are primarily bottom-up• Effort has official and unofficial support from the top • Goals are clear and well-explained

Culture

• People are trusted• Slack exists in the workweek• Helpfulness has been the norm• Top management supports lateralization• There are lots of young people• There is pent-up demand for better information sharing

Does this sound like anywhere you know ??

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Information Services “Web 2.0” Ian Wilson, Portal Team Leader Web 2.0 According to ‘Wikipedia’: “Web 2.0 is a trend in World Wide Web technology and web