Lately in DM, we've been learning the nitty-gritty about how the interwebs works. The internet we're used to using, with more fancy stuff like social networking and applications is called Web 2.0. For my blog post this week I'm supposed to discuss featured of Web 2.0 and linkify you to examples of these features in action! I've compiled a little list of sites that don't necessarily reflect my taste in sites (unless I say otherwise) but do reflect the concepts well.
Web 2.0
Feature Numero Uno: Dynamic content viewable on multiple platforms. One type of website that demonstrates this is called a mashup, where features from different websites are combined into one to utilize both features for a particular goal. I actually went to a mashup database website to find an example and came across Early Miser. This site combines the databases of amazon, ebay, yahoo shopping and amazon marketplace to provide the user with price comparisons over a variety of websites as well as the feature of "price triggering" (setting a budget for a particular item so that they are notified when it becomes available for that price). This is the perfect example of a mashup because it is utilizing the services of many different shopping websites and combining them into one for more efficient searching. Rather than having to check the availability of a product on all these different websites individually, they are organized in one place. On top of that, the feature of "price triggering" is unique to Early Miser itself, making it so that a user doesn't have to continually check back for price changes and can instead be notified.
Feature Numero Dos: User contribution, user generated content and user generated value. Since the basis for this feature is that users are creating what is being put on the website and also offered the abilitiy to voice their opinions on what is being put up, there are endless amounts of websites to choose from. One of the more well-known ones is the animation version of YouTube: Newgrounds. The site's motto is "Everything, By Everyone" and is a spot-on advertisement for what the site is all about. Everything on the site is created by normal people who know how to animate, and there is the option to comment on and rate everything. There are many different forums (pardon the pun) for users to provide feedback such as.. well, forums, blogs, and an on-site chatroom. All the content of the site is free since it is created by normal people and some are more talented than others. It's a way for game-designers or animators to get their work out there, have fun, and be provided with feedback on how to improve.
Feature Numero Tres: Social Media. This is a pretty straight-forward definition since I'm sure anyone reading this has at least HEARD of sites like Myspace or Facebook. These sites were made primarily for social networking, but a site doesn't necessarily JUST have to be about finding and making friends to be considered Social Media. I offer I'mInLikeWithYou as an example of just such a site. While the primary focus of the site is on playing silly games, the idea behind it is that you can create a user profile and create games based on yourself that people have to bet on the answers to to win points. There's also little yes/no questions that pop up randomly while surfing the site for you to answer and add to your profile. You can also obtain points from adding pictures to your profile or making friends. So despite the fact that it's very game oriented, the games are about getting to know people and socializing.
Feature Numero Quatros: Online applications traditionally thought of as software bought and installed. For this one I opted to pick something related to RTA, Jam Studio. It's a very simplistic but still creative version of music creating software like Sony Vegas or Sound Forge. The application allows you to choose instruments and pick chords, keys and rhythms to create mini songs. Since it is online it can't be as complicated as a full sound editing program but it does offer basic features that can be entertaining for someone who just wants to play around with sounds and hear what they can create. Because software of this variety that is traditionally bought is SO expensive and SO complicated, offering a free online basic version can satisfy the curiosity of someone who may not necessarily be interested in all the complicated features, but still wants to be able to make music and have fun.
Feature Numero Cinqo: harnessing collective intelligence using a system like tagging. To exemplify this it was no question to talk about one of my favourite sites/applications on the web: StumbleUpon. Because the web is so vast and harder and harder to explore without having to make very specific (and filtered) google searches, having a site like Stumble is a godsend for people like me. All you have to do to explore random sites is sign up and specify sort of general interests, then once you're ready, hit the stumble button and go all across the internet. You are sent to sites that have been given thumbs-up from users who have similar interests to you and you can decide whether to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down after you've looked around. Once you rate the site your interests become more specified, making it easier for the searches to come up with pages you'll like. You can also send pages to friends with Stumble and specify your channels so only certain types of sites will come up when you search (like video, image or news sites). It's a great resource for getting to know the net and for when you're really bored!
You better check out all these websites to see what I mean. Cheers!
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