The shift from web 1.0 to web 2.0 has meant that the internet is no longer characterised by one-way published content facilitated and updated only by webmasters. It is now a social entity that allows and encourages information sharing and user generated content. Web 2.0 has spawned the rapid growth and expansion of online communities such as blogs, wikis and social networking websites. With such a wealth of user-generated information at our finger tips, has DIY media made it easier or more difficult to fulfil our information needs?
There is no doubt that DIY media has changed the way we view, collect, sort and share information. We are now assaulted with thousands of suggestions when we perform searches for topics of interest. We are offered an expanse of resources at the click of a mouse, but how do we know what is useful?
So much content with so little regulation prompts some to argue that DIY media has, in fact, made it more difficult to find useful information. They believe that quality of content has been sacrificed in favour of quantity.
To illustrate this, I have just now performed a Google search for “Napoleon”. The search greeted me with “about 23,000,000” results, the first three being a Wikipedia entry on Napoleon I of France, a Wikipedia entry on the Napoleonic Wars, and the website for Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics. Not a single site listed on the first page of results had any academic credibility whatsoever. Of course, by simply searching “Napoleon” with no other details to narrow the search, I did bring this sort of useless information overload upon myself, but it is an effective example of what DIY media critics are saying.
The internet has given us a voice. Not just those of us worth listening to however, but everyone. Everyone with access to an internet connection can now share with the world their opinions on the best way to lose baby fat, Paris Hilton’s sex tape, butter vs margarine, sumo wrestling, John Howard’s eyebrows... It seems the human race feels it is obligated to share thoughts, feelings, ideas and opinions about anything and everything.
But how do we sift through the oceans of worthless crap to find the information we are looking for? Online academic journal databases are a useful place to start if it is credible, scholarly information we are after. But almost all of these resources cost money to view. Does this then mean that only the privileged have access to academic resources and everyone else must wade through the rubbish?
If it is opinions we are after, DIY media has certainly improved the scope of information available to us. We are now able to view and understand different opinions on just about any topic that could ever interest us. In this way, the growth of DIY media has been positive as it allows us all the platform to express our views.
When we come to true, credible, scholarly information on the other hand, I believe that DIY media has indeed made our quest for information more difficult. We are simply bombarded with too much garbage for our searches to be truly effective.
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