Internet Writing #1: Recent News Related to Internet Studies
What was the most recent news or scholarly item of interest that you read that relates to Internet studies (excluding what you read for class this week)? Discuss the impact and significance of the issue and relate it to your own scholarly interests.
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Part of what makes the Internet, particularly Web 2.0 (3.0, and beyond) so interesting is the ability for so many people to be creators of content. Even commenters on blogs and on news sites can get their 15-minutes of fame by being regular responders. We talked a little bit last week about "produsers," and even Yahoo! sees the importance of the user's voice. On May 26, the site welcomed its newest news blog, The Topic.
As stated in their announcement of the new blog, “The goal of The Topic is to start a conversation among commenters — and to keep it going in an engaging and informative direction. Each week, a sampling of thought-provoking comments on the week’s topic will be featured in a follow-up post.”
Since Yahoo! News launched comments on their stories months ago, the response has been "tremendous," but they do make comment about how hot-button topics have the ability to “devolve[d] rapidly into heated attacks.”
It will be interesting to see how good (or bad) this new venture will be for Yahoo! I have often been shocked at the callousness that I find in some responders’ comments on various articles online. I wonder how USEFUL this venture will be to communication and to specific topics covered. And even beyond this new venture, I wonder how the decision to open stories to comments has affected the way in which the stories are written, that is if they have been affected at all. There is one thing to have a silent audience (I would think an online news source without a comment function would be liken to a paper-based newspaper not having “Letters to the Editor”) and to write to that silent audience, but it is a wholly different beast to write to an audience that can immediately respond to and converse with others about the story.
You can check out the rest of the Yahoo! announcement [here].
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2 Comments
Jun 13, 20105:54 pm
Hey Jessica.
I feel the same was as you do. Anonymity brings out the beast in a lot of people and what could actually be a great discussion amongst readers usually quickly flees the initial topic and goes off into ugliness. I think a big part of it the “well-known” factor of specific sites. I think of smaller yet popular blogs I go to that often have great discussions – sometimes better than the original post, yet on a reputable and well-known site, people think they’re getting their 15 minutes of fame – even if it is anonymous fame, especially when people comment on their ignorance.
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3:49 pm
Shon, I have often wondered about the level of comments that I see on news websites. It is as though the anonymity brings out the absolute worst in people. They are rude, angry, and in general unhelpful. There are exceptions, but sometimes, I wonder where we will end up. What do you think?