The Machine Is Us- Using Us

Professor Welsh has created an interesting title for his YouTube video on Web 2.0. The title for the video, "The Machine Is Us- Using Us" lends itself to an interesting discussion. As Nancy Courtney pointed out in Library 2.0 and Beyond, Web 2.0 "facilitates collaboration and social connection" (p. 6). The computer is a machine that is about us because it connects us together. With the advent of RSS, we are now able to share so much of our lives. We have become a blogging community. We use videos, Facebook, Flickr, wikis, and a myriad of other communication options that help us connect to friends, families, and even compete strangers. The world is a smaller place as we meet others through the use of a machine that has become a part of us.

The machine is also using us. With every piece of information we enter, the machine becomes "smarter". Wikipedia now has thousands of editors that can create additional information for each entry. Each time we make an entry on the machine, the machine can store it, and so in a sense it is "using us".

Personally, I believe the words that hold the greatest meaning are "us using us". The machine is still just a machine that depends on the human mind. In reality it is our human desire for connection that has paved the way for the success of Web 2.0. As we continue to strive for that human connection, we will more than likely be using a machine to facilitate this need and desire. I am excited to see what lies ahead as we continue this partnership between people and machine.