Here’s a hodge-podge of information that you might helpful in utilizing a few Web2.0 applications:
For some very good, quick, and simple explanations about aspects of the social web, or Web 2.0 tools out there, the folks at Common Craft have a wonderful series of “In Plain English” videos which explain basic concepts.
- “Blogs in Plain English,” 3 mins. A good starting point, although this one leaves me asking more questions about the big picture regarding communities and social groups, as well as “The Long Tail” theory of the Internet as a marketplace. I think this video would provide food for thought for any folklorist out there.
- “RSS in Plain English” less than 4 mins. Highly recommended. Here, Common Craft explains the basic concepts behind Really Simple Syndication (RSS). They lean heavily on the example of using RSS to follow news sites and blogs, although the same technology applies to podcasting or to anyone else who is creating new content on a regular basis.
- Photo sharing has of course become very big, and Flickr is definitely offering some resources regarding image searchability no one else has quite tapped into yet. To get a good sense of how people are building and using a folksonomy, or uncontrolled vocabulary, to share information and common interests on a grand scale, I’d suggest signing up for a Flickr account (a Yahoo Company, so an existing Yahoo account will suffice) or just exploring. Lately, I’ve been thinking about Flickr as a fairly respectable and reliable research database. This article (PDF format) from Educause.edu has some points for you.
Those are just a few links for now, and I hope to add some more (particularly about WIKIs) soon. If anyone else in the AWSF community has other resources to share, please let me <rossfuqua[at]gmail[dot]com> know, and I’ll add you as a contributor to this page. Thanks!
