Week 2 Jan 19, 21

Week 2 to-read-list

1. Social Media, Spannerworks
2. What is RSS?
3. RSS, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So we had another COM 125 lesson today and I learnt something right from the very start of class; to have your blog on the 'honorable mention' list of our instructor, you have to:
1. Write interestingly, or,
2. Have lots of pictures, or,
3. Have music on your blog.

Well, I can't declare that I am able to write that interestingly but I can overload people who visit my blog with loads of pictures and the latest songs.. But I don't think I would be doing that anytime soon. So you have to just bear with my less than interesting writing. :P


Jesting aside, after today's class, I realised that I have not been using the Internet to it's fullest potential. I will be the first to admit, that I don't jump on the bandwagon of new technology easily and perhaps that has led to somewhat of a lagging behind. But I am resolved to in the words of Mr. Choy, to 'find the firewood in the forest'.


Web 2.0. We are living the Internet revolution. It seems to be like exciting times are ahead. A power shift, from the 'elite' to the 'people' is happening. But being the cynic that I am, it helps in times like this to pause and consider. Some people hop unto the bandwagon of 'revolution' like it's the Second Coming. But I take the wait and see approach. Web 2.0 with its interactivity and authorship and 'democracy' seems fine and dandy. But look beyond the surface and you will discover that it is not all fine.


Democracy works best when the people are knowledgeable and mature enough the handle the responsibilities of democracy. In Peter Parker A.K.A. Spiderman's immortal words, 'With great power comes great responsibility.'

(For more on Spiderman, click on the picture)


But take a look around the Internet; there are people who are able to publish their views without censorship and that not necessarily be a good thing. People being people, will abuse the democracy of the Internet, particularly Web 2.0 applications to propagate their misguided notions. Others who don't understand the difference between viewpoints and facts, between right and wrong are easily influenced by these kind of authors. Given the fact that more and more children are Internet-savvy, this proves to be a conundrum for the IT generation. What is right and what is wrong? WHO is right and WHO is wrong? Web 2.0 potentially has the power to blur these lines and create a wider grey area in every area of life. Information is available just like that, at a click of a button and 24/7; but to quote a famous book, 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul?' That's food for thought, don't you think?


That being said, I am still appreciative of how far the Internet has come. Something that wasn't mentioned in class that I feel is quite relevant is the proliferation of forums online. Forums are highly interactive, with users being able to view other member's posts and send them private messages. And I feel that forums have the advantage of amassing and distilling vast amounts of information into different 'threads' and caters to a wide spectrum of audience. You can find forums on the most specialized topics such as beatboxing, fashion, or even home repairs or cooking. Forums also provide people with the chance to interact with a community of like-minded people from all around the world. Superfuture, a lifestyle forum, is one such forum I frequent.

Sitting in class today, I learnt about new technology that I am interested to try out. Like mentioned earlier, I am very slow to jump unt0 bandwagons so don't laugh at me if you people out there are experts at these programs already. But one very interesting piece of technology is RSS, or Rich Site Summary. Read more about RSS from the links above. But this is something that could have extremely practical use for the heavy Internet user to save time and effort. I am going to try out RSS soon, using Google Reader. Tell you more about my experience soon!