Project preparation - Essay Example

First sur Lecturer’s Research proposal It is often said that technology drives change; and this is true in the development of websites. Content based websites have gone a notch higher. Seven or so years ago it was inconceivable to think that some of the current user based websites such …….. Introduction It is often said that technology drives change; and this is true in the development of websites. Content based websites have gone a notch higher. Seven or so years ago it was inconceivable to think that some of the current user based websites such as facebook and myspace could gain popularity in the web development cycle, but now the reality is that there is a gradual shift from server based information web technologies (where information is generated by an administrator and placed in a central server to be accessed by all the clients) to user based (group based) information technology (where the content of web site is developed by the group and are circulated within the group), such as facebook, myspace and other social networking sites. However, legacy web technologies also had their advantages over the current technology. And when the new and old technology is fused we can come up with a web based technology that can be both robust and at the same time trendy. It is in view of these stated views that I would like to come up with a user based information website whose content is generated from random users in random locations. The users are can be connected to chat in real time. This technology I hope will complement the current social network applications. Literature Survey While the current web 2.0 technologies have facilitated effective communication, interoperability, collaboration and secure information sharing on the World Wide Web, led to the development and evolution of applications, hosted services and web based communities, it has also strangled creativity as content is just circulated within the groups of “friend”. This has curtailed further development of this platform. Moreover, it has become apparent that this new web technology has only succeeded on it social front, thus remaining unpopular with most developers and engineers (). There have been a number of innovations that have been geared toward embellishing this platform. These however remain illusive and have missed the spark that they were intended to create. These solutions have come up like real-time chat rooms and chatting software, photo sharing and video sharing applications and so on. These have been successful on their own accord while remaining largely unsuccessful in furthering creativity on the web 2.0 platform. It is with these reasons that I propose another application that will drive out the dearth of creativity in the web 2.0 creativity. Having realized that the lack of substantive content development in the web 2.0 applications due to restrictive sharing of information,. I proposed to build an online communication tool, mostly like a chat room, but which has an additional advantage of matching group information and connecting people randomly among such two groups. By encouraging online real-time chat by two anonymous people from two random groups, I hope to at least build up the content in the groups by encouraging sharing of information. Methodology The project will run on the current web 2.0 platform and will be built as a social networking web site. It will involve the process of registration of user groups. The users will be able to add or remove friends from their list. The friend’s profile should however conform to the group’s profile. Moreover, the group can only be formed when there is an agreement between two or three people in the form of a consensual agreement. The agreement will be like a group form proposal that is only formed when friends or those people within the group have agreed to it being formed. Further to the groups registered under the same group profiles should be able to view other groups within their area of operation to ease information sharing. And members of these groups will be joined randomly when they are online and have given a category of their discussion which Happen to concur with another groups discussion topic. Social, legal and ethical implications Since the proposed system will only emulate the current social networking applications such as facebook, myspace, it bears no direct legal infringement. However, it has also been noted that most often than not, the content shared between two anonymous persons has a higher possibility of being immoral. Some may be untruths while others may be unfounded. This may raise a question of ethics in the communication. Socially, this new project will enhance communication in adding content and quality of contribution since there is sharing of information between groups and individuals. Expected outcome The outcome of this project will be full fledged social networking site with ability to randomly connect individuals in two profile related groups. These groups will however have a choice on whether they need to communicate to the other group they are patched up with or not. Reviews of Sources Dion Hinchcliffe in his article "The State of Web 2.0" offers an insightful view of web 2.0 applications. He looks at their shortfalls and their successes and also looks at their advantages and disadvantages over its precursor web 1.0. Mason, Robin and Frank Rennie on the other hand looks at one could design a course in a distributed environment using social networking tools. He also outlines the strength and weaknesses of developing contents for various media formats for various hardware platforms. The media formats that he talks about include podcasting and webcasting. Of importance also in this project is Jones Bradley’s ‘Web 2.0 Heroes: Interviews with 20 Web 2.0 Influencers’ which provides perspectives and insights from industry leaders and industry leading companies who interact with web 2.0 applications and gives future projections by these leaders concerning the future development of Web 2.0 platform. Conclusion With the current growing waves of social networking sites, a good question is whether there is anything substantive after some period of time. It has been realized that communication within a group can only develop up to a certain level where the group has exhausted all its resources then there is a sump. This slump unless curbed by adding more resources – content – becomes the beginning of the downfall of the group. It is in the realization of this principle that a project like this will curb in that it will randomly seed groups with new ‘outsider’ content that may further enhance the group’s development. References Dion Hinchcliffe (2006-04-02). "The State of Web 2.0". Web Services Journal. http://web2.wsj2.com/the_state_of_web_20.htm. Retrieved on 2006-08-06. Jones, Bradley L. Web 2.0 Heroes: Interviews with 20 Web 2.0 Influencers. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2008. Nickull, Duane et al. Web 2.0 Patterns: What Entrepreneurs and Information Architects Need to Know. Texas: OReilly Media, Incorporated, 2008. Mason, Robin and Frank Rennie. E-Learning and Social Networking Handbook: Resources for Higher Education. New York: Routledge, 2008. Read More