Webolution ( web-evolution )

The Webolution - the evolution of the web, is what Bruce spoke about this week. Think Charles Darwin's Theory but a little more technological. The lecture began with a discussion of the phrase "Old Media" which are traditionally more orthodox, everyday types of news such as radio, newspapers, magazines and television which are also known as mass forms of communications. The discussion then furthered to the movement of media and technology - stepping away from the broadsheet and onto the desktop! Web 1.0 or 'The Information Web' was basically this same information adapted for the internet, which is evident in online news and online advertising. Then making like an Apple product came the user generated Web 2.0, also coined 'The Social Web,' this had a predominant focus on social networking which we are familiar with as part of  Generation Z through sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Youtube, Instagram and Flickr. 

In 2012 we see the advance of Web 3.0. Whenever I see 3.0 next to something I am immediately filled with dread at the possibility of the fate that often succeeds the sequel of a sequel, kind of like the Shrek Movies. However the ‘Semantic Web’ shows rapid progression in the field of online news and networking as well as a more pinpointed concentration on the individual. Bruce spoke about meta-tags – which are machine readable HTML tags that provide information about the webpage and the content. Coincidently after this lecture I have become more and more aware of how Web 3.0 affects my own media usage, logging on to Facebook I noticed that the adds that appear on the side panels of the page seemingly mirror my recent searches or interests – it’s amazing to see this concept of personalized news at work!

As journalism students in a constantly evolving world of technology and breaking news, the burgeoning phenomenon of Web 3.0 is both exciting in terms of technological advancement but concerning in the possibilities of employment. Whilst media moguls such as the infamous Rupert Murdoch maintain a vehement support of print media – the increase of online news for a generation that relies on information being instantaneous is on the rise. Whilst the introduction of hard and soft paywall’s protect the revenue of newspapers there has been significant criticism of the quality of reporting, often coined ‘The Death of Journalism.” In a recent statement, David Donavan the managing editor of The Independent Australian commented that “The growth of independent media challenging the mainstream is massively overstated — in fact, more of our information than ever is coming from mainstream sources which, due to the decline of journalism, is almost entirely coming from the PR industry.”  Which mirrors a seemingly prevalent attitude that online mass media is becoming too ‘mainstream’ and lacking in efficient and sophisticated reporting. For example an online 2011 article from The Guardian newspaper, intended to detail the catastrophe of the Christchurch Earthquake received heavy criticism for it’s lack of actual reporting, with readers complaining of a page filled with Twitter Tweet’s and hypertext.

All in all it will be exciting, as journalism students to see where this all leads!