Before 2005, the flow of information was only the one way: from producer to consumer (Web 1.0), where we could mainly read the content that had been written and published on websites. Through Web 2.0 (known as read-write web) everyone can publish their own material the Internet by using social media services, tools and applications.
Under a wide view social media have formed a “network” which allow us to instantaneous and simultaneous commentary on published material, react to it, and post our material on the internet in a process of continuously communication. Characteristics of social media are that support participation, collaboration, interactivity, communication, community-building, sharing, networking, creativity, distribution, flexibility, customisation (Poore, 2013).
Web 2.0 was initially associated with social networking sites such as Facebook, Instragram and Twitter and their popularity grew quickly as people started to see what benefit they offered as means of social communication. In our everyday life we often use social media such as:
• discussion forums: where we communicate with others in the form of posted messages-asynchronous communication (phpBB, FUDforum, etc.);
• chat rooms: where we exchange messages which are at least temporarily archived (Chatiw, Chatzy Room, etc.),
• social networking: where we exchange views, photos, videos etc. on our interests with others (FacebookTM, You TubeTM, TwitterTM);
• blogs and wikis: where we write a piece of document for real audiences who respond instantly participating in an online writing activity (Blogger, WordPress, Wikipedia, PB works); and
• audio and video conferencing system such as the freely available SkypeTM or VoiceThreadTM which supports three types of podcast: audio only (standard), enhanced podcast (slides with voice over) and vodcast (audio and video).
The Web 2.0 tools can be categorised into four areas:
- Online working, where mainly the collaborative work is supported through wikis, document sharing and surveys;
- Social networking, where mainly the social interaction is supported through blogging, discussion, groups and bookmarking;
- Media sharing, where mainly media asset sharing is supported through visual media and podcasting/RSS feeds; and
- Development or productivity tools.
References
Poore, M. (2013). Using social media in the classroom-a best practice guide. SAGE Publications Ltd: London.
Social Media by Maria Limniou is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Computers in Education and not only 