I'm doing an independent study this semester and am looking for ideas for a research topic. I'd like to focus on something that others could benefit from, so is there anything that anyone has been dying to know more about? Maybe I'd be interested too.

I've thought about researching ajax and the web 2.0 environment since I seem to talk about it a lot but I still don't have an absolutely precise idea what it is. I figure, since I have to apply some sort of anthropological theory to my research, that the web 2.0 environment (whatever that is) is a social phenomenon created for whatever reason that has the ability to transform culture in a variety of ways. I could explore ideas of identity, diversity, homogenization, globalization, cosmopolitanism, the list goes on. Broad, I know. Any ideas?

Did you purchase those books or are they from the library? I think I'd like to read wikinomics first.



kjc6688 wrote:
> I think you should start by reading both Wikinomics and Everything Is MIscellaneous, then go from there. Obviously it´s impossible to know what your project will look like at the end, or even a month from now. I am assuming you will be working with some deadlines, but that doesn´t mean the project can´t evolve. If I were you I would look into the fragmentation of the internet. I would look into identity, identity 2.0, open id efforts etc. as a means to combat fragmentation. I would look into the semantic web and the efforts being made toward that end. I would look into hierarchical tagging. I would look into the widgetization of the web, and by that I specifically mean the interoperability and interconnectedness of services and tools via open APIs and user creativity. The fact that we are increasingly able to build on existing platforms to create new platforms and new services. Just as all this is building on ones and zeros.
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> Of course all this is dependent upon use. Who is using what? Is the web that important? Quite frankly, I think this issue is up in the air. When I look around the world I see millions using this stuff, but when I look around Manhattan, KS, I see just a handful. Perhaps there are more important things to be doing with our time? (that could be a research project in itself)
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> Just as your focus was on YouTube, I think there is a whole project to be done on Facebook as one web service that has seen widespread use and popularity (specifically in Manhattan, KS). Why do people use it? What sorts of good and bad things is it producing?
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> abo46n2 wrote:
> > I'm doing an independent study this semester and am looking for ideas for a research topic. I'd like to focus on something that others could benefit from, so is there anything that anyone has been dying to know more about? Maybe I'd be interested too.
> >
> > I've thought about researching ajax and the web 2.0 environment since I seem to talk about it a lot but I still don't have an absolutely precise idea what it is. I figure, since I have to apply some sort of anthropological theory to my research, that the web 2.0 environment (whatever that is) is a social phenomenon created for whatever reason that has the ability to transform culture in a variety of ways. I could explore ideas of identity, diversity, homogenization, globalization, cosmopolitanism, the list goes on. Broad, I know. Any ideas?

Maggie@Diigo: An educational group ict.org just wrote us and informed us that they are doing training on Diigo.

"The program that we are involved in is called the Intel® Teach Program-Diigo is specifically referenced and used in the Intel Teach Essentials Course. You can find out more about the program at www.intel.com/education/teach . I may have time to preview your next release and am one of your biggest fans."