We the Media- Response 2

          Imagine a world without user participation on the Web.  A world where public input was rare and ideas had dead ends.  Predating the fast-paced Web-obsessed society we so commonly now know, there was once a world where the Web was static and lacked unrestricted contributions.  Within the first 25 pages of We the Media, author Dan Gillmor suggests, “the Web needs to be writeable, not just readable.”   To our generation, that is all that we know: a writeable, readable, participatory forum cultivating a multitude of ideas ready to expand and grow. 

          The Web has defined us and encompasses almost all components of our world, as we know it today.  Users have access to everything from the news, to entertainment, to travel, to business, even style, and have the ability to contribute to the published content.  Whether through Facebook, Twitter, or personal blogs, we have all morphed into both creators and consumers of content.  This concept of Web creation within our technological generation is commonly referred to as Web 2.0, which came about through the introduction of customizability and interconnectivity.  Web 2.0, or as I like to call it, creation through collaboration, has resonated and stuck with me since taking Comm100, my first media class at Lehigh.  As seen throughout We the Media, Gillmor is an advocate for real-time publication by the consumer, and thus supports Web 2.0.

          The Web has enabled society to communicate globally, at an enhanced speed and with extreme ease.  Ultimately, it has created a large-scale community, linking different publics from different locations into one social, global unit.  Take Wikipedia for example.  Wikipedia is currently one of the most valued reference sites on the Web, where the public has the ability to contribute and publish works that are accessible throughout the world.  A student in New York can essentially be reading the same information as a student in England.  Gillmor thoroughly describes this media phenomenon as a collaborative free-forum encyclopedia where interconnectivity is the key to its success.

“Wikipedia is one of the most fascinating developments of the Digital Age.  In just over three years of existence it has become a valuable resource and an example of how the grassroots in today’s interconnected world can do extraordinary things.  It is a model of participatory media quite unlike any other, and is a natural extension of the Web’s capabilities in the context of journalism.” (Gillmor, p.148)

As an avid user of Wikipedia, I value the information posted and published by the public.  Of course, I am always conscious about the possibility of vandalism, yet Gillmor reassures my doubts through his explanation of the “broken window” syndrome described on page 149, which states that “if a neighborhood allows broken windows to stay that way, and fails to replace them, the neighborhood will deteriorate because vandals and other unsavory people will assume no one cares.”  The same thing applies to Wikipedia.  Although the information may be trusted, vandalism on a participatory site is inevitable.  When it occurs however, almost always, a noble consumer corrects the falsified information in due time, making the vandal seem insignificant. 

          Continuing this idea of consumer participation, I will proudly admit that the first place I heard about the shootings in Tucson was on Twitter.  Yes.  I actually received this incredibly devastating information while en route to my grandma's house, from a 16 year-old-girl I do not know.  Yet, this wasn't weird to me.  I couldn't help but go deeper and deeper into my twitter feed to find out more information, by clicking posted links and following live tweeters.  Ironically, that was enough for me.  Essentially, I eliminated the middleman, the journalist, and trusted my valued followers and followees on Twitter to give me the information I was searching for.  I think this is exactly what Gillmor is talking about when he says "the people formerly called the audience, are now the participants."

          Although I am intrigued by the shift from the static Web to Web 2.0 and the social-media-boom, as an aspiring journalist, I fear that reporting will no longer be in demand as the Web continues to evolve and transform.  For a majority of my college career, I have found myself strictly studying print journalism and initially assumed post-graduation I would pursue a career in the afore mentioned field.  Yet what I have recently come to realize is that the industry is shifting into a digital medium.  Books like We the Media and The Cluetrain Manifesto, have opened my eyes to endless possibilities about online reporting.  As a senior in my last semester, the culmination of my college career is right around the corner.  Most recently, I have pursued opportunities in the digital world where my interests would be tailored to the time in which we live, something I never initially intended.  I have had several interviews at fashion related companies that have exceeded my expectations, in their social media departments.  My responsibilities would include blogging, tweeting, and other associated tasks to promote the brands and the company in its entirety.  

          According to Gillmor, “businesses have joined the conversation because blogs fill a gap.”  He shared his opinion about the shift in journalism, specifically in terms of business and blogging.

“To the extent that even a business blog can bring information to the audience – internal or external – with more style than we tend to see on business web sites, enterprises will benefit.  But what brings people back to personal weblogs is their individualized perspective.” (Gillmor, p.30)

Blogs offer a voice that most corporate letters and mailings cannot give the consumer.  In my opinion, THAT is why blogging has been such a large success.  Blogs add a sense of personality and voice, as we discussed in our first J325 session, while eliminating the corporate jargon we are so tired of hearing.  According to New York University’s Jay Rosen, “blogs are an extremely democratic form of journalism.”

          We the Media is seen through a journalistic perspective, contrasting The Cluetrain Manifesto, which mirrors the business world.  Although, shaped around different communities, both exemplify the importance of the Web on consumerism and express through difference means how the Web is going to change our society forever.  

The Cluetrain Manifesto - Response 1

Attempting to change traditional business practices, The Cluetrain Manifesto has helped organizations withstand the new-wave digital generation.  It is a compilation of ideas and theories about the Internets impact on society, more specifically business, and informally gives insight into the world of e-commerce.  The manifesto’s four authors have offered ideas about the role consumer’s play in the larger-scale marketplace and suggest that amendments must be made to any organization ready to take on the digital world.  The introduction of the Internet has networked consumers into a web of interconnectivity and businesses must account for an unlimited access of knowledge.

Chapter 2 opens with the following rhetorical question.  “We know telephones are for talking with people, televisions are for watching programs and highways are for driving.  So what’s the Web for?”  I once learned in another media class at Lehigh that the Internet gives people the opportunity to choose what they want to read, when they want to read it, giving consumers the ability to avoid entire categories and topics if need be.  The Internet has given the public more independence and freedom in terms of content consumption.  Consequently, the Web promotes customizability.  Users have the ability to shape content, and become an integral part of the ever-growing, ever-evolving world that is the Internet.  About 10 years ago, when The Cluetrain Manifesto was first published and released, usability and participation on the Web had not nearly peaked the way it has now.

Since the rise of the Internet, reader discussion and participation has increased tremendously.  People are more likely to post their own input, feedback, and information on the Web, generating extended discussion and multiplying consumer’s informational in-take.  Easy-to-use forums such as Blogger, Twitter, and YouTube among others, have enabled consumers to become producers of information and open up conversations globally. 

“Blogs are one element of the conversational landscape we foresaw when we wrote Cluetrain, but social networking on the scale we see today was just a hazy premonition.  In hindsight, one of the keys to accelerating the social changes we described in Cluetrain has been reducing or eliminating barriers to entry, reducing friction stopping people from participating in conversations.”

I could not agree more with the idea to eliminate barriers of entry.  Ideally, everyone will one day have access to the Web, taking the global network even further and ultimately changing the way business is run.  Twitter is the perfect example of participating in a continuous, worldwide conversation, thus expanding the marketplace of ideas and changing business forever.  In just 140 characters, people are given the opportunity to express themselves freely, in a never-ending conversation.  Twitter led to a transformation in the business world, specifically in terms of promotion.  The site can essentially be used for self-promotion, community relations, crisis management, business promotion, and public relations.  Today, a majority of companies have a social media department, where their sole job is to promote their company through technological means.  Social Media, specifically Twitter, has transformed communication into a real-time conversation. 

            Chapter 5 of the Cluetrain Manifesto goes deeper into the characteristics of the Web, specifically discussing the structure and navigation.  According to a list featured in the book, the Web can be described as hyperlinked, decentralized, and open and direct.  The Web occurs in “hyper time,” contains rich data, and is without borders or boundaries.  Although all characteristics are important to make note of, I think the one worth mentioning is the idea that the Web is hyperlinked, which is changing and transforming business rapidly. 

In an anecdote featured on page 199, a hyperlinked organization is seen in action.  Described, is a sales representative with a customer who is having problems with a product.  Unfortunately, the sales representative does not know how to fix it and thus goes outside her normal network to seek help.  Through e-mail, and other research tools found on the Web, she was able to find the necessary solution to alleviate the customer’s problem. 

“As organizations become hyperlinked, they spawn hyperlinked committees, hyperlinked task forces, hyperlinked affiliations, hyperlinked interest groups, hyperlinked communities, hyperlinked cheering squads, hyperlinked pen pals, and hyperlinked attitudes.  Humans seem to fill up every available social niche just as nature itself abhors an ecological vacuum.”

Hyperlinking has created a world of interconnectivity, affording consumers unlimited knowledge.  The Cluetrain Manifesto says it perfectly in that “A page with no links is literally a dead end on the Web.”  Today, almost everything online is hyperlinked, and I could not agree with the book more, in that all companies and businesses should learn from the successes seen on the Web, and transform their networks into hyperlinked organizations. 

            The Cluetrain Manifesto was an eye-opener in terms of business and marketing and more specifically how we, consumers, play such a large role.  Prior to reading the book, I had little insight into the effects the Internet would have on industry in general.  Now, I understand the importance of interconnectivity and personalization, which in my opinion is what the Web is primarily based around.