So, this week we presented our, well, presentations on Web 2.0. Our group's chosen title was
Rich User Expriences in Web 2.0 and here is the presentation. It was a Pecha Kucha presentation and so each slide lasted for 20 seconds:
In this presentation, we covered the 'rich user experiences' which make Web 2.0 so different and more user-involved than the Internet of the past. We centered this discussion mainly on social networking sites - as these are the most popular user experiences which people take part in. Even though these are now taken as a standard part of day-to-day life, they are always evolving and borrowing from each other in order to become the richest experience for their users. This user involvement gives people a sense of belonging, and makes us believe that the website truly cares about us as an individual person.
Despite this, slide 2 showed how sites like Facebook are not actually made for the user, but for the administrators needs - something proven by the vast amounts of groups and pages calling for Facebook to be changed or altered in some way. This is strangely another form of rich user experience as it allows the users to feel involved in the websites running. Also connected to this is the notion that Twitter can be seen as the medium of protest - in the way that it connects people very quickly through a small amount of communication.
We then discussed how these websites encourage networking through the use of social games - something which on a secondary level allows people to develop and earn money from the users of the site. This lead us onto the discussion of 'free labour in a web 2.0 world' - something which is related directly to the many thousands of applications developed specifically for sites like Twitter which create a more immersive experience for users, but often to not pocket the developers much money at all. This works well for the user - as it creates a richer experience - as well as the website itself - as it creates more attention and user activity. This free labour works on a more personal level too - and it covers things as simple as reporting a user on MySpace or tagging photos on Facebook or Flickr.
Whilst I have said that websites do not work for their users, but for their admins - it is true that the sites do actually go some way to incorporate ideas from their users, as well as respond directly to user feedback on new features. This is something that applies to modern day internet programs as well such as Adobe Flash and Adobe Air.
We reflected on all this by concluding with some key points. Social networking sites are the most important form of rich user experience in Web 2.0 and these allow people to interact with each other and provide people with a more interactive experience on the Internet. As these are free to access (on the whole) it means that we, as users, tend to spend a lot of time on them - something that is definitely true for me and my friends! These sites rely on people like me spending lots of time on them and hopefully then using my free time to give them free labour - via tagging, reporting, or even developing for the websites.
I think that this presentation covered why social networking websites are the archetypal form of rich user experience and provided examples of this - as well as the key idea of free labour.
