It turns out that Web 2.0 is an inflated concept. It has been a couple of years, since every Internet user is being told that Web 2.0 is different from Web 1.0. The main distinction is that Web 2.0 represents a communication revolution. Now, the online space is supposed to be more interactive and participatory. The wave of social networks seems to turn each of us into an active participant. Nevertheless, this time the story told by Jakob Nielsen is more likely to cool down the heads of the Web 2.0 revolutionaries.
Nielsen divides users into three categories: the absolute majority of non-participants (90% of all the users); the occasional contributors (9%) and the devoted contributors (1%). The situation with participation is even more unequal among the users of blogs where the rule of 95%-5%-0.1% applies. On this occasion I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Petrik and to my colleagues in this course: my friends we represent 5.1% of the Internet community.
Finally, the situation is even more dramatic among the Wikipedia users, where the algorithm looks like this: 99.8-0.2-0.003. Who said that Wikipedia is a more democratic non-elitist product? For those who would like to find more about the users and contributors of Wikipedia, I would highly recommend “Edit this Page: Is it the end of Wikipedia?” , by Evgeny Morozov.
After reading Nielsen’s article, I tried his theory on myself. So, I opened the two websites, which are among our readings: The Lost Museum and The Historic Tale Construction Set. Due to some enthusiasts The Lost Museum has now been found in a form of an interactive website. Indeed, the navigation has proved to be fairly easy and the information is proportional and well-structured.
Although, I would like to see some of the objects, which apparently were missing or were traveling in other lost museums. Among the most interesting missing objects seems to be No. 275 under the heading of “What is It? The Most Marvelous Creature Living…” For those of you who would like to share my curiosity, this missing creature was supposed to stand on the second floor between “the Robert Cobb Kennedy Waxworks” and “the Horse Skeleton of North America.”
After the exploration of the museum’s collections, I tried to find out “Who Burned down the Museum?” but after clicking on “Go to Mystery” a pop-up window emerged with the request to register. At this moment, I understood that I tend to belong to the 90% of people who need some additional incentives for their participation and who are allergic of various registration procedures. So, I gave up and the mystery will continue to haunt me until my last breath.
Regarding the Historic tale Construction Set, I think it is a wonderful teaching tool. Some might say that it is no more than another online device designed for the amusement of web community. It might be so. But who said that history should be boring and without playfulness. In addition, why not have fun and learn something. As Professor Kelly shows in his post: Building historical lies can pave the road to authentic historical thinking.
Historia Computabilis 