Web 3.0: The Cure for Web 2.0

Andrew Keen apparently knows how to bait bloggers. With the recent release of his book The Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture he may as well have thrown chum in the water. I haven't read the book yet, but rather a review of the book on MSNBC. I also read the reviews of heavyweights such as Jeff Jarvis, Dan Gillmor, and Lawrence Lessig. Though in the lightweight category, I guess you can now add ChaosScenario to the list.

I won't pan a book I haven't read (although I'm very tempted), but I do want to address one topic brought up in the MSNBC article, which was the supposed loss of originality the Web brings. Far from being testimony of the destruction of our culture, it is challenges such as the ones Keen cites that bring out some of our best works.

Specifically, as if to suggest lying is a new phenomenon, Keen apparently thinks the Internet makes plagiarism easier, because it allows students to cut-and-paste information directly into term papers. This is true insofar as students know how to use the Internet and teachers do not.

Companies that are designed to scour the Internet for identical or similar content already exist. Google is free to use, and colleges ought to already have access to databases that allow them to check for copied works. As mean connection speeds become faster, as Internet2, which is already being used in college campuses, becomes more widespread, and as we inch closer and closer to Semantic Web, it will be as easy to check a paper for plagiarism as it is to do a Google search.

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft or some other company develops a plug-in for Microsoft Word that allowed teachers to detect plagiarism from multiple sources, including the Web and Encarta. Teachers should even be able to do a batch detection, allowing their computers to work for them overnight as they get some much needed rest, themselves.

The technology already exists to detect most types of plagiarism Keen fears is contributing to the destruction of our culture. Some of it is already in use. Making the process more efficient requires a talented and motivated individual or organization to bring it all together. The very commission of resources to this end, egged on by the demands of society that values honesty and original thinking, is a testament to some of our culture's best virtues. We ought not fear it, but rather look for ways to make use of its best attributes while guarding against the problems that are caused -- not by the technology -- but by the very fallen nature that gave rise to the problem before the technology was even a product of our imaginations - Cam Beck

Comments

[Gannon Beck]

Technology has made it easier to share ideas. In that way, which is of prime importance, it cultivates our culture not detracts from it.

As far as writing goes, the advent of blogs has, I think, probably increased writing ability in general. Kids cheating on papers predates technology, so it's wrong to blame technology for bad character. If people want to plagiarize in school, I say, so what? They'll be found out later when they have to write something of importance and haven't developed the ability. There are no long-term benefits for those who actively try not to learn.

[Paul McEnany]

Uggh...I'm so tired of that crap. Society changes. It's the way it is. There was some guy complaining about books, newspapers, radio, television and just about everything else when they came out. There's always that guy. Probably best to just pat him on the head and call him cute and antiquated.

[CK]

I hear Paul loud and clear. While I need to read this book, not judge it, I can say one year of blogging has not only given rise to better practices and new ideas...it's enabled me to enact ideas. So I can't see how it limits originality or creativity. Perhaps the author needs to clarify between the Web and the communities/convos?

[Gavin Heaton]

The problem is not with the technology but people and systems which use it.

On the one hand we have students who want to find a quick answer to a question so that they can get down to more important things (like drinking and having fun). On the other hand we have education systems that continue to pump out graduates with no ability to CRITICALLY assess culture, politics, society, art, history etc.

Until these fundamental challenges are addressed we will continue to suffer a form of cultural malaise. Blogging in many ways (when in supportive communities) can provide at least some form of antidote to this. Look at Ryan Karples. Look at ourselves.

[Roger von Oech]

Good post and discussion. I think everyone has a valid point.

My concern with (my own) over-use of the Internet to get information is that I sometimes wonder that I'm not spending as much time chewing the ideas over and pondering them as compared to when I get them from a book (with a pen and paper handy).

But I'm probably from a different generation.

[Lewis Green]

If plagiarism was that dangerous, our culture would have collapsed a long time ago. I agree with you: The internet makes it more difficult to plagiarise, at least with teachers familiar with the tools to prevent it.

On the other hand, and to Roger's point, I would be careful about using the Internet as my primary source of research. He is a smart guy so he likely doesn't get duped. However, there is lots of bad information in cyberspace. Of course, that can be said of print media, as well. So there you go.

I worry less about the Internet corrupting our culture than I do the breakdown in personal responsibility and the corruption of the values that once made us hard workers and free and independent thinkers.

[mehnaz]

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur & Strategy Consultant Sramana Mitra, after receiving reactions and feedback on her definition of Web 3.0, writes a follow-on synthesis explaining why the Semantic Web can only be implemented in a Contextual Domain. Thus, Web 3.0 according to her, is a Verticalized, Contextualized, Personalized Web.
Links: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/1165
http://sramanamitra.com/blog/572
http://sramanamitra.com/blog/775