Comments on: RSA conference on The Social Impact of the Web

By: Richard Sarson

Richard Sarson — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:58:58 +0000

I meant to ask the speakers and audience to come up with a better catch-all name than Web 2.0 for the whole phenomenon. The trouble with Web 2.0 is that is a turn-off for ordinary human beings.

I thought “Social networking” better, until my grandson, Josh, 13, pointed out that “You Tube” is not social networking. Nor is “TheyWorkForYou” etc. I respect Josh’s views more than most adults, because his generation are the real users.

Does anybody have any ideas. It is important to find one, because people will not accept it unless the name means something.

By: boogdesign posts - The Social Impact of the Web: Society, Government and the Internet

Thu, 31 May 2007 22:46:34 +0000

[...] the speakers by listening to the audio feed, or you can read some alternative summaries and blog opinions.Technorati tags for this post: activism citizen journalism e-government online [...]

By: Andrew Chadwick

Andrew Chadwick — Sun, 27 May 2007 17:02:32 +0000

Hi Simon, I’m glad my talk got you thinking.

Just to pick you up on my point about the production/consumption divide. My argument essentially revolves around what kind of society and politics we wish to see: a participatory culture in which technology enables more people to take part in debate and the knowledge production process, or a more elitist model in which web 2.0 becomes simply a reinforcement of existing patterns? I suspect we’re seeing a mixture of these trends, but I do think it’s worth making the point that the producer/consumer divide now sits as an extra layer on top of the ‘access’ divide that usually dominates ‘digital divide’ discussions.

A thoroughly enjoyable event.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sat, 26 May 2007 08:30:56 +0000

All in all, some good food for thought today – particuarly Andrew and Tom’s sessions which you’ve pitched about right.
Good to finally meet you too, if only for a few seconds.