Ok so this weeks subject of Social Networks and User generated content has been a mixed bag for me. I understand the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 with the shift in the nature of authority and how Wikipedia is an example of this shift. That is going from something like Encyclopedia Britanncia in which we are told by the author what to think to Wikipedia where it is opened up into a public discourse where we can challenge that information and author. The problem here is that because we are students of the wikipedia age and have had it drilled into us about how its not a scholorly source we know that some of the information posted is questionable, people who arnt subject to this enlightenment however can fall victim to its deceptive suffix.
"pedia" those five simple letters are what I beleive gives Wikipedia the chance at unchallenged authority.. I know that when i was at high school i read pedia on the end of it and automatically associated it with its older sibling Encyclopedia and thought it to be the best source ever ( the wiki part.. well i thought it was just there to give it a modern- cyper kind of twist).
Thats not to say I a strong anti wikipedi person, im definatly not i still use it as most of us discussed in class as a starting point from which we then compare other sights against, Im yet to have started and essay without using it!
The part of the seminar i really still am a little stuck on is whether wikipedia is challenging the notion of authors and authorities. I know we said that it is the gatekeepers that create authority and that wiki without gatekeepers should thus challenge it.. Im still not entirely sure .. even without the internet publications were always being updated and changed and scholorly journals often debate over someone elsse theory.. the internet has simply sped this process up and taken it to a larger audience... maybe thats exactly the point im supposed to get... :s think i will patrol through the rest of your blogs and see what i can nut out
thats my rant for today
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In a way I think it's good to not have the authors always as the authority. Web 2.0 kind of gives everybody a chance to be heard, and we are not forced to just accept what the "scholars" say.
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