Web 2.0 and Technical Communication Laura Katajisto STD Fall meeting Tampere 28.11.2007

Contents What’s Web 2.0 about? Web 2.0 examples Criticism Technical communication and Web 2.0 TC 2.0 examples Unanswered questions

What’s Web 2.0 about?

Web 2.0 examples

Criticism

Technical communication and Web 2.0

TC 2.0 examples

Unanswered questions

Web 2.0

Web 2.0

Web development Web 1.0 Static pages, rarely updated (Perlin 2007) Producer  consumer distinction (Bombosch 2007) Web 1.5 Dynamic pages generated on demand from a content management system (Perlin 2007) Producer  consumer distinction starts to blur (Bombosch 2007)

Web 1.0

Static pages, rarely updated (Perlin 2007)

Producer  consumer distinction (Bombosch 2007)

Web 1.5

Dynamic pages generated on demand from a content management system (Perlin 2007)

Producer  consumer distinction starts to blur (Bombosch 2007)

Web development Web 2.0 Total hype or a new level of the internet (Perlin 2007) Opposite of shrink-wrapped produce; producers no longer have monopoly over public discourse; empowered consumers have instant access to huge amounts of expertise and they must rely on their own judgment (Bombosch 2007) Read-only webpages upgraded with social interaction features (Katajisto 2007  )

Web 2.0

Total hype or a new level of the internet (Perlin 2007)

Opposite of shrink-wrapped produce; producers no longer have monopoly over public discourse; empowered consumers have instant access to huge amounts of expertise and they must rely on their own judgment (Bombosch 2007)

Read-only webpages upgraded with social interaction features (Katajisto 2007  )

From http://kosmar.de/archives/2005/11/11/the-huge-cloud-lens-bubble-map-web20/

Examples of Web 2.0 services Wikipedia Flickr YouTube Del.icio.us DIGG Pãgii TopTable Writely Reddit TripAdvisor Sphere Stumbleupon Jaiku Twitter Netvibes MySpace Facebook

Wikipedia

Flickr

YouTube

Del.icio.us

DIGG

Pãgii

TopTable

Writely

Reddit

TripAdvisor

Sphere

Stumbleupon

Jaiku

Twitter

Netvibes

MySpace

Facebook

Criticism Kevin Farnham, author of Myspace Safety: 51 Tips For Teens And Parents: ” The problem in this world, of course, is that indeed everything IS published and what's published into the digital domain is imperishable. Which means that idle chit-chat that once was dissipated into the summer breeze is now carved into digital stone, as it were, becoming part of the permanent public record that exists for all participants in the […] world.” From the comments section at http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/07/levels_of_the_game.html

Kevin Farnham, author of Myspace Safety: 51 Tips For Teens And Parents:

” The problem in this world, of course, is that indeed everything IS published and what's published into the digital domain is imperishable. Which means that idle chit-chat that once was dissipated into the summer breeze is now carved into digital stone, as it were, becoming part of the permanent public record that exists for all participants in the […] world.”

Criticism The Economist 22.09.2005

Technical Communication 2.0

Technical Communication 2.0

Paradigm shift in TC Traditional technical communication Gather information  Author a deliverable  Publish  Update

Traditional technical communication

Gather information



Author a deliverable



Publish



Update

Shift in user behavior Four trends of user behavior Users produce, share and organise content Users access site content and functions well beyond the borders of the site’s ”pages” Users are pursuing social goals, not just work goals Hart-Davidson, Intercom Sept/Oct issue 2007. ”Web 2.0 – What Technical Communicators Should Know”.

Four trends of user behavior

Users produce, share and organise content

Users access site content and functions well beyond the borders of the site’s ”pages”

Users are pursuing social goals, not just work goals

Paradigm shift in TC Technical communication in Web 2.0 Assistance for people, not just ”users” Google as the quick start guide, user guide and help system Perpetual release cycle – goodbye print release deadlines! Non-writers produce content, technical communication specialists moderate and edit

Technical communication in Web 2.0

Assistance for people, not just ”users”

Google as the quick start guide, user guide and help system

Perpetual release cycle – goodbye print release deadlines!

Non-writers produce content, technical communication specialists moderate and edit

Paradigm shift in TC Technical communication in Web 2.0 Direct feedback from ”Rate this topic” features and feedback forms New (?) components of user assistance Training movies in Flash or MP4 format Wikis Blogs (written by product specialists) Webinars Podcasts RSS feeds

Technical communication in Web 2.0

Direct feedback from ”Rate this topic” features and feedback forms

New (?) components of user assistance

Training movies in Flash or MP4 format

Wikis

Blogs (written by product specialists)

Webinars

Podcasts

RSS feeds

TC 2.0 Examples

TC 2.0 Examples

Forums and mixed media User support for Pãgii ( www.pagii.com ) FAQ produced by Pãgii The rest of the support comes from a very plain-looking Forum Video tutorial on how to create a pagii is posted in and played from YouTube

User support for Pãgii ( www.pagii.com )

FAQ produced by Pãgii

The rest of the support comes from a very plain-looking Forum

Video tutorial on how to create a pagii is posted in and played from YouTube

Wikis as user support http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Wikis as user support http://www.ebaywiki.com/

http://www.ebaywiki.com/

Wikis as user support http://wiki.webworks.com/

http://wiki.webworks.com/

Video tutorials http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/

Podcasts as user support http://www.rastervector.com/resources/podcast.html

http://www.rastervector.com/resources/podcast.html

Oh happy day – web 2.0 is here to stay?

Oh happy day – web 2.0 is here to stay?

Unanswered questions Legal risks ” If an outsider posts bad information or instructions that I follow, who’s at fault and who do I sue?” (Perlin 2007) Loss of control DIGG riot, http://infowars.net/articles/may2007/020507Digg.htm “ Web 2.0 'neglecting good design' “ Jakob Nielsen, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6653119.stm

Legal risks

” If an outsider posts bad information or instructions that I follow, who’s at fault and who do I sue?” (Perlin 2007)

Loss of control

DIGG riot, http://infowars.net/articles/may2007/020507Digg.htm

“ Web 2.0 'neglecting good design' “

Jakob Nielsen, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6653119.stm

Unanswered questions Designing for a minority http:// www.aaronsw.com / weblog / whowriteswikipedia ” over 50% of all the edits are done by just .7% of the users” ” the most active 2% […] have done 73.4% of all the edits”

Designing for a minority

http:// www.aaronsw.com / weblog / whowriteswikipedia

” over 50% of all the edits are done by just .7% of the users”

” the most active 2% […] have done 73.4% of all the edits”

Final words… … from YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

… from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g