Wikipedia – An Example of Information Under Scrutiny

Wikipedia is an online collaborative database, renowed for user produsage and extensive content. Ever since its development Wikipedia has been panned for it’s accessability to edit and upload information by users, inturn questioning its reliabilty as an information site.

While people have come across misleading information on wikipedia, it is often blamed on the fact that “anyone can write on wikipedia” and this is untrue. When questioning Wikipedia on its reliability, on has to question the world wide web in general. Is any site we stumble upon 100% reliable?  There have been numerous reports of the Encyclopeadia Brittanica site displaying incorrect information, yet this site still remains a credible source for referencing.

In the past Wikipedia, being less popular and underfunded (and still is), was goverened by alot less users and site managers. Today the information shown on the site is getting viewd and reviewed by millions of useres per day. Pages from the site are constantly evolving and updatingto display the most correct and up-to-date information, and when incorrect information does arrise it it almost certainly found and changed within a short period of time.

Regarless of the conditions, the fact is all information found on the internet is under constant survalence. As we can see it is easy to argue the best of both sides; while all content is under some level of scrutiny, it is wise to be very careful what informtion is taken in and viewed. Being aware and verifying sources by double checking references is advisable in most incidents (more-so in academic purposes) .

Produsage: producers or pro-users

Produsage is a term relating to the constaltly evolving and developing of web content . There are many web applications available, and the idea of user input to progress and furthur develope a form of new media is becoming more apparent and accepted in a contemporary society.

Social networking tools and blogging sites heavily rely on the concept of user input,  for without users there would be no content and would therefore deem the application redundant. Constant posting, blogging, commenting, viewing  and uploading content onto sites such as Youtube, Facebook , Wikipedia (examples of the obvious) is what keeps sites like these up and running, and hence furthur progress there development.

From this perspective of Web and user interaction, we can easily determine the level of involvement that the online community plays in upholding websites and progressing their online survival. As we all know, social networking and bookmarking site in general would be nothing without the backing of strong online support. And so as the Web developes, so to does the number of the population that access it and use it more frequently in day-to-day life. As a result the demand for these websites and specifially the input from users will ever-evolve the production of online interation.

In essence, users are becoming accustomed to the tools and methods that are becoming commonly used in general Web interaction, and this is where the idea of Pro-users enters the equation. Web 2.0 offers a vast variety of interaction methods available, ranging from the abilty to blog and post comments to direct communication between multiple web users. In this day and age, poeple are becoming accostomed to useing these tools more effectively in their lives, and this understanding is indeed aiding the production of bigger and better qualities that Web 2.0 can offer.

Citizen Journalism: citizen journalists or simply citizen bloggers?

Citizen Journalism, in this sense refers to the freelance journalists that write and post articles on media and blog sites. Over the progression of Web 2.0 Citizen Journalism has been expanded deeper into the depths of the digital realm, allowing a vast influx of oppinionated posts on all categories of life. With posting an article being as simple as a click away, one has to wonder if journalism in itself remains a skilled area of profession, or weither it has become an excuse for any “Joe Bloggs” to let their voice be heard.

In essance web 2.0 delivers the platforms, allowing the public to express anything, almost nywhere at anytime. Peopple have the freedom to Post content for averyone to see at the click of a button. Yet, even though this functionality is so accessible, the question remain whether or ornot this is a worthwile practice.

On one hand we have determined and enthused journalists using these tools effectvely and geting the word out for those interested enough to listen. And on the other hand we ave the spammers and attention seekers, uploading comments, bulleins and blogs of meaningless rubbish. It is the latter of the online community that makes finding appriate and reliable articles a nightmare. Serching for a worthwhile read soon comes down to tryin to find a needle in a haystack.

So to cut it short, online blogging and journalism should deffinately remain open to those whom remain faithful to their area’s of interest. Unfortunately leavig this open to the general public is like painting a bright white wall in an alleyway, sooner or later it’s going to get vandalised. In the meantime, we’ll just ignore the irrelevant and continue building a collective intelligance for those better bloggers.

New Media

This WordPress blog has been set up in order to document the work for the subject New Media.