This Is Your Life 2.0

The keyword of the new web is INTERACTION. Anyone with an internet connection now has the power to post, publish, and participate in the growing online communities. Recent years have also seen a gazillion new web products, many completely FREE, designed to help people get their lives together. What could be more useful for students on the go?

The internet is a lot more interactive than it used to be. In addition to sending email, people can post images, meet friends, write blogs, chat, and get updates on news, entertainment, and other items of interest. There are also lots of FREE software programs that you can now use in place of things like MS Word, Photoshop, and other (expensive!) professional applications. These new participatory internet is loosely referred to as “Web 2.0″.

The defining characteristics that set Web 2.0 apart from Web 1.0 are its Interactivity and customizability. Web 2.0 is all about the user – YOU. You can publish your thoughts, images, media files; you can keep in touch with an ever-widening circle of friends, acquaintances and strangers; you can have information pertinent to your life available in one convenient place.

Still not sure? Here’s Wikipedia’s definition: “The second generation of the World Wide Web, especially the movement away from static webpages to dynamic and shareable content.”

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN USING WEB 2.0 PRODUCTS

1. PRIVACY and SECURITY are big big issues in the Web 2.0 world. Interactive and customizable means bits of YOU are going out to the public, sometimes without your knowledge. As they advise at the Digital Tattoo website, THINK BEFORE YOU INK. It’s in your best interest yourself informed about potential risks and best practices. Take the first lesson in this series to find out what Digital Tattoo is all about!

Also, an advisory from the Leap website:

Remember, if you are signing up to a service that is hosted in the U.S., you’ll want to take note of the privacy policies before you give over your personal information. The U.S. has a different view of privacy protection than we do in Canada.

2. Many tools and sites are in BETA. Beta is a developmental stage wherein the product is ready to use but not finalized. It’s sent out into the test group – in this cases the wilds of the internet – to gather usage data, gather feedback, decide how to make improvements and solve bugs. Things in beta can change AT ANY MOMENT or may disappear all together. Be wary and keep important info backed up.

This Is Your Life 2.0 was created for the Digital Media Project. For more about us, click here. If you have any questions or comments about this site or the project, send us an email: digitalmediainterns@gmail.com.