The Social Software Revolution ...

The week 12 lecture re-capped on all we have studied this past semester. I'm really glad I went because John filled us in on the most important theories/ideas in our book of readings that are likely to be on our exam ... which I haven't even started to think about.

One small thing that John touched on I found extremely valuable: are new media cultures shaped by technologies or are technologies themselves shaped and reconfigured by social and cultural conditions/contexts? John said that new media cultures are both technological and cultural. I agree with him there. Technologies are continually being shaped for use in the way people/communities want to interact. I don't think that new media cultures are shaped by technology as technology is designed and/or re-invented to 'make easier' person-to-person interaction. Technology and social software provide a platform used to maximise social capital by users, in turn "integrat(ing) the internet further into our everyday lives," as put by good 'ol Terry Flew (2002).

Social software promotes a high level of sustained and effective interaction amongst community members or outside individuals ... just look at MSN, ICQ or WAYN. Social software also refers to wikipedias. "We are entering an era in which informal networks are rivalling the power of hierarchical organisations," stated Flew (2004, p.78). This could not be more true: the results of a Wikipedia vs. Britannica study released not more than 6 months ago revealed that Britannica, the subscription based 'god' of reference books is almost equal in academic error to Wikipedia. Wikipedia undoubtedly has an enormous breadth of topics on its website that are free to users, who even have the option of editing site information if they want. If Britannica and Wikipedia both have a similar average of errors: it says a lot for Britannica's academic advantage doesn't it? Why bother buying Britannica if you can get the information online for free? This is an example of the corporate upheavel that social software is only starting to produce.

In the chat sessions on friday, we talked a little of free internet. EmailAddress.com provides a list of internet servers around the world that provide the internet for free. Can you imagine if this number increased to the point where it threatens corporate giants like Telstra and AOL? Although this website has no listings of completely free access in Australia, I don't think it's far away. But as I've mentioned before, it's just one more thing to increase the problem of the digital divide. The government would only enable free internet access in city areas as there are more people, so people living in outer Brisbane and rural areas miss out.