Based on Dr. Ian Reilly’s Lecture Winter 2011, Week 9
For years television has filled out the gaps of free time in our day. Now with the World Wide Web we have entertainment, information, social interaction and work all at our finger tips. Our free time is becoming more dominantly spent in front of our computers. Having an online world so easily accessible we have come together and created a virtual world that has now become a tool we use to keep us up to date and down to earth.
Social interaction, technological appeal and the users experience while online creates a world of value inviting capitalism to piggy back along the ride making money off of user-generated content. By posting a picture or blog online and making it accessible to the world you open the doors for your content to flow smoothly through platforms potentially creating value for both the users and producers.
Social networking sites offer users the ability to create their own online communities. Each social networking site offers users different functions giving the us the option to enter online communities that best suit their lifestyle and our interests. The differences between Facebook and Twitter are obvious and for that reason appeal to different users. There are now so many social networks offering users fast passed social updates or an in-depth looks at other members recent activity. The amount of online interaction one can have in their free time is what keeps these online networks alive, they make communicating and accessing information easy. User generated content and communal projects online have become a better way for us to “pass time” as we feel we are contributing to something rather then spending ours on facebook "lurking" our "friends."
Check out the video below of Clay Shirky for more on how cognitive surplus will change the world.
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