Blog #1: Web 2.0

Before I even talk about web 2.0 I just want to say my piece about how it is a silly name. By giving it a 2.0 moniker we are implying that there was a complete overhaul of the architecture or a major revision to how the web works, when all we are really talking about it some newer ideas on how to use the same old TCP/IP packets that have been flying around forever. I do, however, understand how people love the freedom and recognition of creating a “new” Internet so that is all I will say about that.

Now the things that people can do with these new more interactive web tools are pretty darn interesting. Sure we can create a worldwide free encyclopedia and everybody and their dog can blog about the thing that they love most about in life but what if we use these tools to say eradicate diseases or better yet stop them before they even really get a chance at life. Larry Brilliant is talking about collaborative web tools that helped stop disease pandemics and forced governments to start looking and reporting incidents because otherwise they look bad when private sources know more about it then they do.

I have this worry every time someone tells me of the wonder of Web 2.0. Sure we can now have countless conversations about all kinds of things but there is no system in place to link up people talking about the same subjects. There is no filter. It is this dumping ground of information that we are supposed to pick up and sort through to find the gems in among all of the biased crap, and if you are a very slow reader, like me, the thought of subscribing to all this data is crazy. How in the world can I find only the information I need without wading though all the opinions and reviews of the stuff I really do need?

Look at the basic data, and this data is over half a year old. There were over one hundred million blogs that were indexed with just under one million posts done in an average 24 hour period. Almost sixty percent of the bloggers have been blogging for over two years. That means that there is a large portions of that data that is not just one off and blogs that are forgotten. It is amazing and impressive but I do not see any system set in place to sort and rate these blogs into a manageable list so that people could read what they need to learn and not drown in the noise. Basically my question is how do we improve the signal to noise ratio of this broadcast method.

http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/01/12/social-media-web-20-internet-numbers-stats/

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/larry_brilliant_wants_to_stop_pandemics.html