So much talk about the internet.

There is so much talk about the internet these days. Actually it feels like that is all we talk about these days; who downloaded what, what music you were listening to whilst checking the latest on your facebook, what latest video you downloaded of Youtube, we are all talking about, or at least the vast majority of people are talking about the internet.

The internet, emerged from a completely different situation and was never designed and intended for a mass medium. In the 1950’s a communication system emerged with no centre, rather a decentralized, self maintaining series of links between computers networks. In the early stages the only computers connected to the Net were US military bases or research centers, and were only available to defense elite and computer experts (Barr 2000).

Unlike today, the internet is the most significant new communication medium of our times. If I think back, I remember around about the year 1996 was the year that majority of people and households became responsive to the internet and its purpose – a communication hybrid: mostly an information system where people can search for information and seek through many search engines, but it was also a medium where people could create their own content to distribute.

Daily access to the world wide web has had a profound effect on social practises and how we spend out time and how we communicate. It is not unusual to have a dozen e-mails containing jokes, photographs and other irrelevant material, arriving at regular intervals during a work day.

These are good examples of produsage, where a member of the community engages in the sharing of information and knowledge ((A)Burns, 2008).
Sometimes the receiver is requested to add input and forward to others thus including them as creative collaborators.

While often annoying, it is difficult to resist the invitation to take part in social interaction from a distance; furthermore there exists a tolerance and acceptance of the use of social networking sites such as Face book, You Tube and Myspace in the work-force.
Note that 'TIME' nominated person of the year 'you': all of us who are active in collaborative online spaces ((B)Burns, 2007).

Interestingly it is not just generation X or Y who have embraced these virtual cultures. It is baby boomers (Grey Nomads) like my parents and their friends who travel with laptops, web cams, head sets and have not sooner parked the van, than they have the technology booted up and the first digital pictures and MSN communications flowing and the new photo album has appeared on Facebook.

The internet is always improving and with new technologies enhancing and more and more people relying on the internet for everyday use, the generations of users will continue to update their knowledge with a simply search and a click on the mouse.

Reference:
(A) Bruns. A. 2008. Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond, In From Production to Produsage. http://produsage.org/files/Produsage%20-%20Introduction.pdf (accessed April 8, 2008).

(B) Burns. A. 2008. The Future Is User-Led, In The Path towards Widespread Produsage. ttp://produsage.org/files/The%20Future%20Is%20User-Led%20(PerthDAC%202007).pdf (accessed April 7, 2008)