Cultural Studies 3 Lecture 5 from internet to web2

Cultural Studies 3: 

Cultural Studies 3 Lecture 5 From the internet to Web 2.0 Liam Greenslade http://ncad.culturalstudies.googlepages.com http://ncadculturalstudies3.blogspot.com

The growth of the internet: 

The growth of the internet

Business, the internet and dot.com: 

Business, the internet and dot.com The initial spread of the internet was pretty much ignored by commercial interests for the first half of the 1990s Emphasis placed on developing and adding value to existing technologies such as the TV and the telephone Many standard business models were abandoned in the early 90s in favour of radical new models which focused on brand-building and networking before profits were even considered. The idea was to increase market share whilst operating at a loss

The dot.com bubble 1995-2001: 

The dot.com bubble 1995-2001 By the second half of the 1990s the technological innovations predicted for TVs and phones were slow to arrive and/or prohibitively expensive Attention switched to the growth in networked computers and the internet Speculators began investing in newly formed companies on a ‘get large or get lost’ business model

The bubble bursts: 

The bubble bursts Huge amounts of money changed hands and share prices rocketed The promise of the internet failed to materialise as quickly as expected by 2001 Fears over Y2K and the stability of technology companies destabilised the market The Dot-com bubble crash wiped out $5 trillion in market value of technology companies alone between 2000 and 2002

Nasdaq share values1994 -2008: 

Nasdaq share values1994 -2008

Dotcom and the web: 

Dotcom and the web The dotcom crisis forced both commerce and technologists to rethink their approach to the web It became clear that standard business models could not be readily applied to make a quick buck Web consumers were becoming increasingly sophisticated and approaching the net in entirely novel ways Perhaps the most important feature was the growth in communities and peer-based communications which we now refer to as ‘Web 2.0’

Web 2.0: 

Web 2.0 Dot.com bubble created disenchantment with the internet Web 2.0 emphasises ‘collective intelligence’ User engagement and participation Peer production Open source code Viral marketing The ‘wisdom of crowds’

Web 1.0 to Web 2.0: the emerging community basis of digital culture: 

Web 1.0 to Web 2.0: the emerging community basis of digital culture DoubleClick-->Google AdSense Ofoto-->Flickr Akamai-->BitTorrent mp3.com-->Napster Britannica Online-->Wikipedia Personal websites-->blogging Domain name speculation-->search engine optimization Page views-->cost per click Publishing-->participation Directories (taxonomy)-->tagging ("folksonomy") Source: O’Reilly (2005)

The collective character of Web 2.0: 

The collective character of Web 2.0 Developments such as Peer to Peer, Wikis and You Tube mark an important difference between Web 2.0 and other media Content is created and evaluated by users rather than being passively received by viewers or audiences Web 2.0 allows for collaboration and the formation of diverse communities Connections are formed and social needs are often met in virtual space leading social scientists to consider cyberspace as a ‘3rd Space’

The internet as ‘3rd place’: 

The internet as ‘3rd place’ According to Oldenberg (1989) home (1st) and work (2nd) are places in which life has become increasingly individuated and privatised Formerly, public (3rd) spaces provided opportunity for informal social gatherings, the levelling of social hierarchies, and facilitated the development of social and political interaction (e.g. coffee houses in the 18th Century) 3rd spaces are necessary for social and psychological well-being as well as maintenance of civil society Society increasingly lacks physical 3rd spaces On-line social networks, the new 3rd space?

Further reading: 

Further reading Oldenburg, Ray (1991). The Great Good Place. New York: Marlowe & Company O’Reilly T (2005) What is Web 2.0? http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html Scott, B Cooper M Kenney J (2006) Why consumers demand internet freedom http://www.freepress.net/files/nn_fact_v_fiction_final.pdf