Journal 3: Writing, Teens and Web 2.0

Tim O'Reilly's article, "What is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software" addresses the definition of Web 2.0. One of the main requirements (or "core competencies," as O'Reilly labels them) for a Web 2.0 tool is "trusting users as co-developers." This is a revolutionary idea when compared with the giant software companies of past decades. Instead of hoarding the secrets of program code, Web 2.0 allows virtually anyone to harness internet-based APIs and create new mashups. This leads to another core competency, closely related to the idea of trusting users: “harnessing collective intelligence.” When more people have access to the building blocks of new applications, the more opportunities there are for creativity and innovation.

This is all very exciting, and allows our technology-rich society to change at a speed unprecedented in past centuries. Yet, does the new generation, who have grown up in the era of computer and the Web, understand the significance of this shift in the philosophy/business model of software companies? The article, "Writing, Technology and Teens," published by the Pew Research Center, suggests that they do not.

According to the article, 60% of teens do not consider “electronic personal communication” to be writing. This includes text messaging, e-mail, IM and social networking sites. To anyone who functioned in society before the dominance of the internet or the invention of the cell phone, this may be shocking. The fact that the majority of teens who participated in the study do not consider their daily textual electronic communication exemplifies the disconnect between their generation and the understanding of the impact technology has made on the way we live.

It is not unusual for a teenager to look shocked when a parent or older relative tells a story about being stranded in his or her youth, only to receive the query, “why didn’t you just use your cell phone?” I witnessed this very exchange recently when my younger cousin heard his father, my uncle, telling such a tale. When my uncle looked askance at being asked about using a cell phone before they were even invented, my teenage cousin provided an answer: “oh, your battery must have been dead.”

This real-life incident displays how those who have never been forced to survive without the modern convenience (or nuisance, according to some) of instant communication via cell phone, cannot comprehend life without it. Perhaps as they gain maturity, they will come to appreciate how technology, particularly the internet and all of its Web 2.0 applications, has revolutionized how we perceive text. In the meantime, those of us who remember life without cell phones or the World Wide Web need to remind those who don’t to appreciate the technology we are surrounded by. Just think – maybe power outages aren’t so useless after all.

Renee Boettner