6. The Symbiotic Web User/Contributors Web 2.5 Content Providers/ Information Gatherers
7. The Symbiotic Web User/Contributors Web 2.5 Content Providers/ Information Gatherers
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Editor's Notes
The question is WHY is this happening? Is there something underlying all of this.
Even many services which are not ‘free’ are moving towards this kind of symbiotic state, gathering personal data and offering discounts, bonuses or ‘personalised services’ in effective exchange. Why do I call it an ‘uneasy’ symbiosis? Because it isn’t stable, and because one side (the individuals) are essentially unaware of what’s going on - and when they are, they often object.
How did this come about? One way to look at is to consider the functional evolution of the web from the very beginning. At first, an information bank. Content providers put information up on the web, users accessed that information.
The change to ‘Web 2.0’ is characterised largely by a transformation in the users - rather than just accessing information, they begin to provide information themselves. Blogs, wikis, social networking sites, YouTube etc, expansions in old-fashioned message boards.
The change to web 2.5 - the symbiotic web - is characterised by a converse transformation in the erstwhile content providers. Now, not only do they provide information, but they gather information from people who visit their sites.
This information is then used, amongst other things, to ‘tailor’ their websites to the individual users - starting with targetted advertising and specifically chosen links, moving on to individualised content. This effectively fractures the web.
Nightmare visions like ‘whites-only websites’ become possible. Very different from Sunstein’s vision in that it’s not determined by people’s choices, but by the way things are chosen for people - a difference which has a significant effect on possible solutions
The role of each of the data gatherers in the Symbiotic Web is slightly different. Profiling, advertising etc.
Commerce is behind much of what is happening here
Commercially driven
Talk about Back-door Balkanisation here - Cas Sunstein’s Republic 2.0
![The Symbiotic Web ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/symbioticwebfullversion-110922062642-phpapp02/85/The-Symbiotic-Web-1-320.jpg)
![Symbiosis ,[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)