Web 2.0 Friend of Foe?

WEB 2.0 Friend or Foe?

                Over the past eight or so years the evolution of web 2.0 has been imposable to not take note of. Web 2.0 has infiltrated our lives and there are no signs of it getting less popular. The signs are everywhere; you can’t watch ESPN’s Sports Center without hearing the caster quote an athlete’s Twitter. When was the last advertisement you saw that didn’t invite you to “check us out on Facebook?” This is all really ground breaking stuff, the ability to post videos and watch videos on You Tube; to communicate instantly over the internet, to share photos and learn about events on Facebook; if you wanted to know MC Hammer’s birthday or a recipe for Gyoza (Japanese dumplings) look no further than a Wiki site. Web 2.0 definitely has many positive, but what are the negatives?  Is web 2.0 growing too fast? Can we trust the majority of the material on a web 2.0 site? Some experts claim that web 2.0 may not be as angelic as its crack up to be. Take Mr. Matt Bacak for example he claims “every coin has two sides and Web 2.0 is no exception”; he goes on to say that since all web 2.0 sites data can be edited they “become vulnerable to vandalism. Since, anyone can edit the content of a Web 2.0 site”. Mr. Bacak has a valid point here; can we trust Wikipedia when they tell us that MC Hammer was born March 30, 1962; or the Wikihow Gyoza recipe?

                Another web 2.0 shortcoming is privacy, how do we know or personal information on Facebook, twitter, Blogger, Google, Zippos is really safe? The Wall Street Journal has reported that Facebook is being criticized for its recent change in privacy policies. As users want more privacy on Facebook, Ceo and creator Mark Zuckerberg has been taking strides to make our information more public “Mr. Zuckerberg, who has argued for years that its users should be more open with their information”. Privacy on web 2.0 is a big deal, reputation, job opportunity, higher education acceptance, can all be affected by your content on web 2.0; something that’s intended for your friends at home probably isn’t suitable for a future employer and Facebook, Mr. Zuckerberg and the entire web 2.0 community should be considerate of that fact.        

Sources

http://knol.google.com/k/web-2-0-the-disadvantages#
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704912004575252723109845974.html
http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/web-2.0/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-web-2.0.html