Final Blog Reflection for Class

This class has certainly broadened my perspective of the online world considerably. I have gained knowledge in an area I did not participate much and I realize why social media is such “a big deal” now. Prior to this class I did not really think very much of it and wondered why so people spent so much time online. I did not realize how much time was spent on it by businesses, online websites designed to attract new users and, of course, and the importance of participation by libraries in social media.  As a librarian, I can see how ignoring social media would be a big mistake in today’s world.

Folksonomies and tagging was certainly an interesting topic for me. I believe there is far more to the folksonomies and tagging than just attaching a word to a picture, a document, a video, a blog, etc. If I decided to continue my studies in this area, I think I would concentrate on tagging. I believe tagging is not just the word an individual chooses to describe an item and then the modification and aggregation of those tags into similar words (i.e. the gardening); which to me seems to defeat the purpose of tagging by changing a person’s tag. Instead, I believe it is a way for the individual to express his or her own relationship to the item. The actual tag is not relevant because it is merely the representation or connection the individual has with the item.  Changing the word to something else by weeding it makes the tag useless. That’s why I believe it is just a representation of an individual’s relationship with the item. I also would look at individuals’ motivations and why people engage in tagging behaviors. This is a new field of study analyzing tagging behaviors.

Where are we going now? One direction is mobile applications on smart phones. Everyone will have them in the near future (the phones, other devices, and mobile websites). There will be a new demand for mobile websites that users can access on handheld or mobile devices besides a computer. Web developers will be called upon to write new code for mobile websites in addition to “online” websites browsed via a computer. This will allow anyone to access information from anywhere at any time with mobile devices.

I would say the single biggest thing I have learned over the past 10 weeks is that to there is no such thing as “free” online.  There is an expectation when an online entity offers you a “free” service, you do have to give up something in exchange to gain access to the service. I do not think many people really understand this concept and how their own private information is used for commercial gain or exploitation by the online entity. In a way, though, I am not saying this is good, bad, or evil (yet). I think now Google’s business model is (or was) based on either do no harm or do no evil. However, I do see this as a symbiotic relationship between people, their information, and how it will be used by companies in the online world either for profit, gain or a net positive result for the person. Each is living off of the other and one cannot survive without the other. 

You might think that an odd statement that a person cannot survive without his or her online presence, access, profile or whatever you want to call it. However, the online social media world is headed in the direction where an individual’s worth to society will be measured in his or her social worth or capital. Those with higher amounts will stand to gain considerably in prominence due presumably to having a higher influence over others in society. While those who do not participate or those that do but do it badly or with very little influence will be left at the bottom rung of the social media ladder.