At the 2010 10th edition of the ABCI Conference I presented my view on the implications of the new interactive way of using the Internet. Here is a brief summary of what was discussed at the workshop.
Part 1: What is Web 2.0?
Not a long time ago the maximum range a regular person could give to his or her opinion on a topic was determined by their geographical conditions: if one could reach an abundant number of people in a few miles, that would be one's audience.
When radio set in there was a significant change in terms of reaching a wider number of listeners. TV gradually made its way into an even greater number of devotees and then the Internet, now present not only on bulky desktop computers but also at every handheld device one could possibly imagine stretched the boundaries of communication to practically every human being on Earth.
However, the average citizen was still doomed to the same fate: as he or she could not put their voice onto the radio, their faces on TV or their texts on the Internet their thoughts and opinions would still have to phisically reach their fellow companions in the traditional way.
Some lucky people would have the chance, here or there, once in a lifetime, to be "world-famous for 15 minutes" as Warhol once said, but the vast majority of humankind was excluded from contributing with their own thoughts and minds. And then there came the Blogs! Ordinary people could now share their thoughts in a way never before seen. Still there was the need to find someone to follow your posts but geographical barriers were no longer an impediment to spreading the word.
The rise of social networks
And blogs evolved to social networks, text evolved to audio and video. Communication broadened and became, in a certain sense, more public than ever before. That evolution is Web 2.0.
There are many implications following these historical changes and several of them are very positive - and I am not only advocating the benefits of virtual love! Communication on social networks expanded ways people can reach other people. Their minds, thoughts and - why not? - their emotions are now projected to wider audiences and all of a sudden, regular people such as Canadian Corey Vidal would record a Nerdy video on their kitchen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4) and then become world-famous on Youtube with thousands of people subscribed to see more of what they have to say. (check his "Youtube story" for more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSmMLR_vI1c).
Widening audiences is not all Web 2.0 has to offer, though. It widens horizons as well. During the World Cup in 2010, Brazilian football fans were making fun of a Brazilian football commentator on Twitter. People would tweet: "Cala boca Galvão" (Shut up, Galvão) - Galvão being the name of the refered commentator. It soon became Trendy Topic (which happens when a certain set of words is repeatedly posted on Twitter) and people around the world got curious. Brazilian comedians @NerdsKamikaze and @Nandopax decided to take the opportunity to make fun of the new hype and created this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdTadK9p14A in which they say Galvão are rare species of bird that need people's help. Cala boca Galvão became Worldwide Trendy Topic in no time.
What these two examples have to offer is a sneak peek into what is in store for global communication: ordinary people can take a step into interacting with worldwide audiences and make a difference. Creative ideas can spread, reach and perhaps connect with other ideas just as creative forming a network of thoughts and minds which can effectively communicate and make some of them come true.
All in all, Web 2.0 generated new ways of using the internet not only allowing people to say their minds to larger audiences but also making them use this feature in powerful new ways never imagined before. The human trait of Interaction has gained new grounds and forever changed "surfing the web" to "diving" into it.
An indirect shift
Something Web 2.0 also did - however indirectly - was to shift teacher's roles to a different position. That is what will be discussed on the second part of this article. Stay tuned!
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