h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Web 2.0 sites are sites where most of the content is made by contributors - so h2g2 was Web 2.0 before the term was invented, but YouTube and FaceBook and Wikipedia are all classic examples. So are blogs. Twitter is the new kid on the blog, but another really good example.

What do people who don't join in **actually** miss out on. Yes - we've all made a lot of friends here (I hope) but do people who don't mess around on h2g have fewer or less interesting friends? I think friendship wise it may even out.

So what do people get from blogs and wikis and you tube and the news-mashup **that they can't get any other way?**

Ben

Could you first of all define "join"? Do you include lurking?

I read quite a lot of Twitter stuff and have a good feel for it, but I don't have an account myself and doubt I will. And I read many blogs of all kinds, but don't have one. No Facebook, My Space etc either. But I'm not missing anything. Far from it. One thing about lurkers is that we probably *have* read the backlog.

I think it really depends on your individual circumstances Mrs Zen. I know that if I still worked for my living I would probably not have time, nor need the added stimulation of the online community world.

But you asked 'what do people who use Web2 get that people who don't use it miss out on' (I paraphrase)

For me, I get a first hand global account of life in other parts of the world. It is unlikely that I will travel to small town America for instance. I get to hear the sort of trivial day to day stuff that I find fascinating. I resisted Facebook for a long time, but joined as my family want to keep an eye on me and now I have a window into lots of other families' lives, the stuff you couldn't discover from tourist holidays.

Also, I get to tell complete strangers things I would normally only be able to share with a small circle of friends. It is good sometimes to have outsiders views on your own dilemmas - even if they are inconsequential.

>> Do you include lurking?

Absolutely coelacanth I include lurking. As you say - you have read the backlog.

Interesting Lanzababy, and thanks for the paraphrase. My new thoughts are often very badly worded.

Incidentally, I should declare an interest here. I'm writing a blog post on the subject and it's going to be very hard not to quote what people say here. i'll drop by peoples personal spaces and ask nicely before quoting, so don't feel inhibited about posting here - you can always say 'no publicity'. I'd been going to say 'you can post here in privacy', but more people read Ask than read my blog.

Thanks for the clarification. I've always considered lurking to be part of an undefined contract, because surely every writer needs readers? It's one of the things that I consider as my contribution to h2g2. Maybe I don't write here very much now, but I do read. Quietly though, since I rarely comment. It's a counter to my RL where I talk a lot for a living and others have to sit and listen to me.

Your blog stats will tell you how many people read it. I'm interested to know how that matches up to the number of people that leave comments. What proportion of non contributing readers v contributing readers? And regardless of raw numbers, do you think that proportion is about the same for h2g2?

Quote what you like. I'm quite used to people writing down what I say. It goes with the job!

It varies on the subject.

The most popular post I ever wrote was 'how to knit a moebius scarf' which has had 11,131 hits, and 10 comments. On the other hand a post a post I wrote about the voting buttons under the options menu in Outlook got 14 comments because a conversation started about voting and vetoing in political elections, while the post itself has only had 52 hits.

You can see this in the newspapers who publish links to 'most read', 'most commented' and 'most emailed' and quite often there is very little overlap.

Ben

I don't do facebook or twitter, but don't really feel like I am missing out on too much as the people I know who do do them also have other web 2.0 presences (blogs and forums mostly), or they have to communicate with me personally. Plus I now read blogs by people who blog about facebook and twitter, so I'm getting the meta version

If I want to know what's happening in the world or NZ, news-wise, I invariably go to the blogs and forums. I will also check out MSM websites to get the gist of a story but I rely on blogs I know well to tell me something real about the story that I don't get from the MSM websites.

People I know who rely on the MSM and don't use web 2.0 have a very different view of the world than I do. It's scarey, because I don't think people realise how specific the MSM is in what it presents and how. But of course that all predates 2.0 and even the internet. Before the internet I had to go to the library and borrow 'alternative' magazines, or read counter culture publications and newsletters to get a broader view of news. Or go to meetings and gatherings and talk to people directly more. 2.0 isn't really a new thing then I guess.


>>
I've always considered lurking to be part of an undefined contract, because surely every writer needs readers? It's one of the things that I consider as my contribution to h2g2. Maybe I don't write here very much now, but I do read
<<

That's lovely coelacanth, thank-you

You are welcome to use this ( as long as my nickname is removed )

'I've been astounded that lots of ordinary American people do not realise that Thanksgiving is not celebrated worldwide.'

-this comes because so many of my FB friends have wished me Happy Thanksgiving, or asked whether I had problems shopping etc. Up until now I didn't realise how insular a lot of the population over there can be.

A post I made on B3ta got in the Daily Mail (uncredited). Other contributors have gone on to do animations for ads and TV shows like Genius and The Wrong Door. One (Joel Veitch, he of rathergood.com and the Crusha ads) is now the go-to-guy for Sky News' internet feature.

It's a curious bran tub full of frustrated artists, musicians, agit-prop bloggers and the like but it does seem that a lot of talent is being elevated by 2.0 into spheres they'd never have a chance with outside of it. This freedom of expression might be a new dawn or the fifth horseman of the apocalypse, YMMV.

I can't guess what others would miss out on, but for me, it's communicating in English, amongst other things. This is something I can't do where I live. Then there are the various visits to England I've done since I joined. I wouldn't have done them otherwise.

And all of what lanza said in post #3.

Plus a few things more, like writing, editing...

It's opened up a whole new world for me.

I'm not terribly creative and not much of a writer, so my contribution here, like Coelacanth*, is mainly reading. But I do love the different opinions and views you get on so many different topics - I spend every lunch break reading the latest Ask offerings, and even sometimes feel moved to comment myself. Even if I don't agree with what someone has said, it's fascinating to see how differently people think.

Apart from h2g2, I have a Facebook account with 20-odd friends, all people I know in the flesh. It's a nice way of keeping in touch with extended family and more distant friends who you don't talk to regularly.

I also read two blogs by people I've come across on h2g2. One is dog-based and I llike the blog for the knowledge sometimes imparted and also the funny stories and pictures. The other is by someone who extended a friendly welcome to me on here and so I was saddened to discover she is seriously ill. Her blog can be quite raw at times, and very entertaining at others, but I always find these glimpses into somebody else's heart humbling and inspiring.

The above ramblings should be a good indication of why I don't contribute more!

Deb

*Incidentally, thanks for validating my lurking - I've never thought of it like that!

I succumbed to joining Facebook a couple of days ago BECAUSE my not-into-computers friends were using it to display all the photos / video of their newborn baby son.

As they don't use check or use email regularly I was feeling ostracised!

So I compromised and joined up. Will let people add me as their friend so that I can see their stuff, but will not be posting anything of my own.

1) Effective collaboration/communication tools.

2) Content created by all those other users.

If you take your time spent reading whatever it is you read, then a Web 2.0 site is likely to provide a larger volume of content that you are going to have to search through harder, while a more traditional publisher-model type site is going to have a small amount of content hopefully written and edit by skilled people.

Web 2.0 can produce a wider variety of stuff, and that means there's more likely to be something you're interested in, and I guess the idea is also that a wider base can mean a higher peak as it were - enough amateurs put together will produce the best work more often than a limited number of professionals.

Basically Web2.0 has really brought the internet to the masses like Microsoft and Windows didn't, at least from a Facebook/Bebo/Myspace/FriendsReunited point of view. It's a one-stop shop for all their communication needs. They don't need to be logging into different applications to download emails, put up photos etc.

That's interesting what you say BBS about the one stop shop aspect of things like Facebook. I have no interest in that. I like having things separate. I want my email in one place, my photos and films in another etc, although I often post links between things when that is appropriate. I love h2g2 being an essentially text based medium that is great for interesting discussions as well as quirky humour. I come here for that. I also like YouTube because it's like an amazing library of film, much with music of course. I really hope h2g2 doesn't ever go down the social networking route and become more of a one stop shop thing for posting photos etc. I think that would really change its nature.

In terms of the OP question, I think in general web 2.0 gives instant and 24/7 access between people involving a huge variety of topics and information. I never cease to be amazed that I can just pop into my bedroom, anytime of the day or night and find someone in the world to discuss something with. In real life one is limited to the interests and knowledge of one's particular circle of friends, and arranging to meet up. Web 2.0 opens up a whole world of opinions and viewpoints that you could not have had access to in the past unless you spent your whole life travelling and meeting new people. Now you can have it whenever you want it. But I can see that it maybe stops me doing things in real life on occasion, because its just so damned convenient and easy - and warm and cosy...

Specialised news sources on certain blogs. And it is nice to be able to talk back to a reporter and tell him he's analysed things poorly.

And I love h2g2. I refer to this place as my home on the Internet. I couldn't feel that way about a static website.

TRiG.