Web 2.0 describes
‘an internet site that allows users to interact and collaborate with each other
in a social media dialogue as creators of user- generated content in a virtual
community’. The Information Age is at hand and using platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram, has become an integral part of our every day lives.
The benefits of
participating in social media have now gone beyond simply social sharing to creating
career opportunities, acting as a powerful business tool and becoming essential
in learning and education in the 21st Century.
Creating Career
Opportunities
As a dancer,
social media is essential for networking, self- promotion and as a way to stay
connected within the dance world. As every dancer knows, having a show reel is
crucial to developing your career. A show reel is edited and uploaded to a
platform such as YouTube, where prospective employers can view it. It is
becoming more and more common for dancers to be offered work from their show
reel alone, as opposed to attending a live audition.
Sites such as;
‘Dancers Pro, ‘Star Now’ and ‘Dance Cast’ enable you to create a profile
including your c.v., photos and show reel. You can then apply to multiple jobs
online and can be found by employers through the sites directory.
Social recruitment
has taken off over the past year. Multinational Corporations are now using
social media platforms for recruitment and as a way to check candidate
backgrounds.
“New Delhi: Uber
Cabs and Twitter India are hiring. But unless you follow the right people on
Twitter or are on their mailing list, you'll never know about it. These
companies aren't putting out advertisements on their websites or using
traditional recruitment companies to find them the best candidates; but have
been sending out mailers and tweets to customers or followers.” (The Economic
Times, 2014)
A Powerful
Business Tool
The site ‘Linked
In’ is now the world’s largest professional network with 300 million+ members.
What began in 2003, as a business- orientated social networking service has now
become an essential business tool. For recruiters looking for candidates,
Linked In is fundamental in their search. For applicants, it is a way of
engaging with companies and brands, and drawing out job offers from there.
Essential for
Learning and Education in the 21st Century
Web 2.0 is also changing
the culture of learning, creating educational opportunities for students of every
age from around the world. Many young people are attracted to Web 2.0
developments such as Facebook, finding the social aspects of easy
communication, co-ordination and online expression of personal identities
appealing. Used correctly, these tools could bring huge benefits and support
learning in more creative, social and participatory ways.
Web 2.0 will
affect how universities go about the business of education, from learning, teaching
and assessment, to contact with school communities, widening participation and
maintaining contact with alumni.
Developing Thoughts
Having read ‘Reader
1’, the term ‘democratization of the web’ caught my attention. This refers to
the process by which people access and contribute to the internet.
Tim O’Reilly wrote
about the importance of harnessing collective intelligence. He stated that the
web sites that are shaped by user contributions would evolve into more superior
destinations than other sites. For example Amazon, which began as an online
bookstore in 1995, would allow visitors to create accounts and submit book
reviews. Anyone could play the role of a literary critic. Other customers were
then using these reviews to help them decide which books to buy. Amazon’s
members were helping to shape the browsing experience.
The
democratization of the web is an important concept. ‘Web 2.0 encourages its
user to take control of the production and access other people have to data
(and not to rely on businesses or the government to provide that service)’.
This led me to watch an interesting talk via an app I have on my phone called TED
– ‘Ideas worth spreading’. It is a global set of short conferences or
innovative ‘talks’, that you can easily access and view.
Pia Mancini and
her colleagues have created a mobile platform that through inspiring debate and
enabling voter engagement will bring citizens inside the legislative process,
in the hopes of upgrading modern democracy.
Facebook asks ‘Is
Connectivity a Human Right?’ (Facebook, 2013). Whilst dancing professionally, I
traveled to Mainland China on a number of occasions. This question reminded me
how frustrating it was not being able to access various sites such as Facebook
(in China the government controls its use). For me, accessing the internet
freely is a basic human right. ‘The internet not only connects us to our
friends, families and communities, but it is also the foundation of the global
knowledge economy’ (Mark Zuckerberg, 2013).
Ethical
Considerations When Using Web 2.0
I currently work
at a girls’ school- Queen’s College, London. A couple of days ago I received an
email from my boss that had an attachment titled ‘Data Protection Policy 2014’.
As I work in their finance department, I have access to bank details, personal
information regarding the payment of school fees, etc. It wasn’t until I read
the policy that I realized the full range of information and data I have access
to, and the sensitivity with which it is to be used.
“This policy is
intended to provide information about how the College will use (or ‘process’)
personal data about individuals including current, past and prospective pupils;
and their parents, carers or guardians (referred to in this policy as
‘parents’).”
With this in
mind, I then realized how much information about myself is easily accessible
online, if someone were to search for it, and how careful you have to be when uploading photos, videos and personal information about yourself to the internet.
