The Web is nowadays a part of everything: school, crime, entertainment, bullying, news, work, fraud and government. It’s in our mobiles; we ‘embrace’ it; and so do our children and friends, teachers and co-workers. It is everywhere, it is complex and it is contradictory. How can we make the most of this new environment and what can we expect from it? How can we live harmoniously with the Web?
Being a parent, a teacher or a professional nowadays presupposes the daily juggling of unfamiliar and increasingly complex situations, as well as continuously gaining new skills. The Dos and Don’ts, or the old ‘recipes’, are not sufficient as the Web is affecting every aspect of our modern lives.
It is high time we discuss the Web dish and its main ingredients. Advising parents to “allow up to two hours of Web-browsing and keeping the computer in a central area of the house” is not adequate any more. Why? Because this amount of time might not be sufficient or might be disastrously abundant; because our children might be browsing the Web from their classmate’s mobile, and from anywhere else they might wish to.
This is where we come to the stage of discussing all the basic knowledge that every parent, teacher or user must have about the Web. Every single one of us. Of course, it is of no use to simply enumerate the information, so we shall combine it with current affairs and ideas for immediate application. Besides, like in the case of food, it is rather boring hearing about proteins and carbs without doing a bit of tasting as well. However, it is also dangerous to mix ingredients and to play the sorcerer’s apprentice, just to satisfy your appetite.
Consumers enjoy more options and connect through social networks. The price to pay is the time spent on advertisements, and the exploitation of consumers’ personal data.
Traditional industries (e.g. media) are shaken to the core by the subsequent opening of the productive process to all users. The prevalence of the Web creates new disciplines and a third path to property, production and administration. The prosumers (i.e. producers-consumers) actively participate without strong ties or direct reward. The predominance of only a few providers and businesses, even in the online environment, may be improving services, but it is also increasing privacy-related risks and preventing innovation. Most businesses are striving to comprehend and take advantage of the rapid change to their operating context.
The opportunities and risks presented by the Web can be easily summarized and displayed in relation to Google. Even though the company improved searching the Web and broke the oligopoly for portable devices, they maintain the analytical profile of every user and buy out everything that they can get their hands on. Google has changed the way we think; it is a know-it-all which has substituted part of our brain, particularly our children’s.
These new homines connecti do not care about their context and focus on connecting with people. They are interested in a career in their chosen profession, but not necessarily in a career within a given company. They do not link friendship and entertainment with a neighborhood but they carry their online little ‘box’ with them, everywhere, in any device; all it takes is to log into Facebook and Gmail.
Our online world is by no means heaven on earth. And it is our children who are mostly paying the price with their lack of concentration and goal-setting, the mistaking of information collection for knowledge, the wasting of their time and their lack of empathy. This new reality also affects family: the family role is becoming more complex and demands more and more effort – for the first time, it is the young members who are more familiar with a basic skill, such as using the Web; our homes can be both our working and greater social space, while our environment is changing faster than ever.
Being a parent, a teacher or a professional nowadays presupposes the daily juggling of unfamiliar and increasingly complex situations, as well as continuously gaining new skills. The Dos and Don’ts, or the old ‘recipes’, are not sufficient as the Web is affecting every aspect of our modern lives.
It is high time we discuss the Web dish and its main ingredients. Advising parents to “allow up to two hours of Web-browsing and keeping the computer in a central area of the house” is not adequate any more. Why? Because this amount of time might not be sufficient or might be disastrously abundant; because our children might be browsing the Web from their classmate’s mobile, and from anywhere else they might wish to.
This is where we come to the stage of discussing all the basic knowledge that every parent, teacher or user must have about the Web. Every single one of us. Of course, it is of no use to simply enumerate the information, so we shall combine it with current affairs and ideas for immediate application. Besides, like in the case of food, it is rather boring hearing about proteins and carbs without doing a bit of tasting as well. However, it is also dangerous to mix ingredients and to play the sorcerer’s apprentice, just to satisfy your appetite.
Consumers enjoy more options and connect through social networks. The price to pay is the time spent on advertisements, and the exploitation of consumers’ personal data.
Traditional industries (e.g. media) are shaken to the core by the subsequent opening of the productive process to all users. The prevalence of the Web creates new disciplines and a third path to property, production and administration. The prosumers (i.e. producers-consumers) actively participate without strong ties or direct reward. The predominance of only a few providers and businesses, even in the online environment, may be improving services, but it is also increasing privacy-related risks and preventing innovation. Most businesses are striving to comprehend and take advantage of the rapid change to their operating context.
The opportunities and risks presented by the Web can be easily summarized and displayed in relation to Google. Even though the company improved searching the Web and broke the oligopoly for portable devices, they maintain the analytical profile of every user and buy out everything that they can get their hands on. Google has changed the way we think; it is a know-it-all which has substituted part of our brain, particularly our children’s.
These new homines connecti do not care about their context and focus on connecting with people. They are interested in a career in their chosen profession, but not necessarily in a career within a given company. They do not link friendship and entertainment with a neighborhood but they carry their online little ‘box’ with them, everywhere, in any device; all it takes is to log into Facebook and Gmail.
Our online world is by no means heaven on earth. And it is our children who are mostly paying the price with their lack of concentration and goal-setting, the mistaking of information collection for knowledge, the wasting of their time and their lack of empathy. This new reality also affects family: the family role is becoming more complex and demands more and more effort – for the first time, it is the young members who are more familiar with a basic skill, such as using the Web; our homes can be both our working and greater social space, while our environment is changing faster than ever.
