Blog 1: Takeaways.

Web as Platform:

The biggest takeaways I found from these articles was the concept of web as platform.  From this idea I found the main point to be access.  Information put on the web can be accessed from any place with Internet capabilities.  Google docs is a good example of this.  Files can be saved to this location and can be used from any other computer or device.  This new accessibility comes with the idea that there are now the resources and opportunities for participation that have not been possible before.  Software and applications are data-driven, they are always learning and adapting to the user.  Social media is also much more prevalent and important than it used to be.  Marketing has changed because of the vast amounts of people using online resources. 

Convergence:

Content flows across multiple media platforms to promote participation and cooperation across many different users.  This phenomenon involves new forms of exchanging information between users of media content.  Facebook is an example of this kind of convergence culture.  Without people and businesses using this application, it would be completely empty.  Facebook needs the interaction of people talking to one another, adding friends, photos and videos to make the site interesting.  It needs the contributions of users to produce the information and content needed to make the site successful.  Another good example is Youtube.  Videos need to be posted on the site by users.  Those who tag, link, comment, and view the videos are the ones making the site more and more popular.  People like to see themselves on public sources like this, therefore making these types of sites more popular. 

We Are Connected:

The lost iPhone example really shows how connected everyone really is, as well as the ease and interest people can find in some random situations.  Social visibility has increased dramatically over the last several years.  In this particular circumstance, the girl who ‘stole’ the phone had all of her personal information online for the world to see and find, and inevitably what got her arrested.  This also shows how much power the audience/public really has in society.  If only the phone’s owner had complained to the police, nothing would have been done about this case, but because of the large amount of people getting involved, something had to be done.  Changing our way of communication changes society.  People catch on to each other and use similar ways of communication with each other.  Technology is enabling new groups to form.  It makes me wonder why we aren’t combining our efforts to more worthy causes…

Cognitive Surplus:

Cognitive surplus is the ability of the world’s population to volunteer along with contribution and collaboration of large and global projects.  This is made up of the world’s desire to create things and share things on a larger scale.  The tools are now available to the public to provide motivation to join talents and collaborate with people all over the world.  The participants create communal value for each other: Flickr, Youtube; when the users increase, the value of the site increases.  Civic value is created by the participants but enjoyed by society as a whole.  The intention is for the society to be made better by the new creations.  The idea is that organizations with succeed if they design their needs around a culture of generosity. 

Order of Orders:

This is the idea that everything is miscellaneous, and this is GOOD.  I found this to be a very interesting concept.  It is amazing how these ‘orders’ have progressed through time.  The first order can be considered as physical objects located in a real place somewhere.  The second order can be seen as different lists describing where each of those physical objects are placed.  And the third order is the digital, unlimited versions of each of those physical objects.  This order is the most user centered.  It can be seen with image or post tags on social media websites.  The ‘tags’ find similar posts and provides more information for others users to make the post more accessible to everyone.