Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as follows:
A Web 2.0 site may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where people are limited to the passive viewing of content. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies.
Web 2.0 is distinct from Web 1.0 in that the latter was used mainly to share information in a unidirectional fashion: from creator to user. Moreover, before social media tools such as blogs and Twitter emerged, most websites were developed and published by corporations, organizations, and a select few who could master HTML code as well as navigate the process and cost associated with publishing a website. Thus, many of us can recall first generation websites that did not allow for any user interaction, and were essentially an online version of print media.
Fish (2011) uses examples from American Indian tribes to explore the different uses of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 technologies to share tribal histories. He outlines opportunities and drawbacks for Indigenous uses of both types of technology. For example, using a basic website platform, tribal communities working with their Elders can develop a cohesive and comprehensive story to share about their history and culture, weaving in traditional stories using multimedia tools such as video and audio. With Web 2.0, there is an opportunity for interactivity, collective voice and dialogue. However, there is less control over the content and tribal leaders can lose their ability to steward content in a way they deem appropriate and acceptable.
In my own personal use of social media, I have found that how I interact online with others and with a wide range of media and information has allowed me to explore personal, political, familial and cultural aspects of my Cree/Aboriginal heritage. The video below documents a personal five minute social media experience where I navigate through a digital geography of Aboriginal content:
Indigenous 2.0 from Patty Hambler on Vimeo.
When I started this project, I had an inkling that I was not the only Aboriginal person experiencing social media as a cultural learning tool. Although there is limited academic research on the topic, there are a few good resources I found that would seem to confirm my hunch: Aboriginal people in Canada are using social media in a variety of ways and, as Duncan McCue describes it we are “posting like nobody’s business” on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. We are “making cyberspace our own space… we’re occupying it and transforming it and reinventing it even” (quote from CBC’s podcast Spark).
Web 2.0 – social media spaces that allow for creation and sharing of information, stories, art and more – is playing a significant role in my life and learning as an Aboriginal person. This blog will explore what I found when I dug deeper to find out how other Aboriginal people in Canada are doing the same.