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.
>
> 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)
>
> 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?
>
>
>
>
> 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?

My reasons aren't much different then the ones you listed for yourself.

But I must add that I think the web has tremendous potential for creating community... and it gives me goosebumps thinking about it!

Oh, and I love getting online because, if you're clever enough, you have access to almost limitless information... woohoo!



kjc6688 wrote:
> This is really a test to check out the forum and get it started.
>
> However, I have spent the last two years of my life thinking about community, so I might as well offer up some thoughts.
>
> So... community
>
> I think we lack it
> I think what we do have of it is incredibly fragmented
> I think the web offers very intriguing examples of it
> but those examples are modeled after the "real" world
> in the "real" world I think it is incredibly fragmented
> everywhere I find it, everywhere it is specialized
> I want less specialization, less fragmentation, more meaning
> I think I need community
> I think the internet can help
> if we/it do it right
> I get online to commune with people
> with people I know
> with people I can meet and talk to face to face also
>
> Why do you get online? (not so different from why do youtube?)
> What do you think of community?
> What is community?

Indeed... I arrived in Manhattan today. Unpacking is a disaster! Looking forward to gettin to the Quorum soon. I'll stop by tomorrow? I hear you're giving a blogging presentation to the TechBytes group. I've been invited to give a presentation on Diigo and social bookmarking... we should brainstorm. Oh, right... this is suppose to be a topic about community... uhh... community rules! Yea!




kjc6688 wrote:
> The man, the legend, is back!
>
>
>
> abo46n2 wrote:
> > My reasons aren't much different then the ones you listed for yourself.
> >
> > But I must add that I think the web has tremendous potential for creating community... and it gives me goosebumps thinking about it!
> >
> > Oh, and I love getting online because, if you're clever enough, you have access to almost limitless information... woohoo!
> >
> >
> >
> > kjc6688 wrote:
> > > This is really a test to check out the forum and get it started.
> > >
> > > However, I have spent the last two years of my life thinking about community, so I might as well offer up some thoughts.
> > >
> > > So... community
> > >
> > > I think we lack it
> > > I think what we do have of it is incredibly fragmented
> > > I think the web offers very intriguing examples of it
> > > but those examples are modeled after the "real" world
> > > in the "real" world I think it is incredibly fragmented
> > > everywhere I find it, everywhere it is specialized
> > > I want less specialization, less fragmentation, more meaning
> > > I think I need community
> > > I think the internet can help
> > > if we/it do it right
> > > I get online to commune with people
> > > with people I know
> > > with people I can meet and talk to face to face also
> > >
> > > Why do you get online? (not so different from why do youtube?)
> > > What do you think of community?
> > > What is community?