The Long Tail

This article by Anderson explains clearly how Web 2.0 is about reaching for people that couldn’t be reached as easily before APIs ad other Web 2.0 concepts and tools came about. This concept of empowering, giving voice to people (the user) therefore creating access to knowledge in areas and ways never before imagined.

The whole idea of the cult of the amateur that portrays user-generated content as a “bad” thing makes some sense, but in order to let real learning happen, we need to give people a chance to show others what they know (everyone is an expert in something, right?). This also opens doors for content aggregation in a way that would not be possible if the power of publishing was in he hands of just a few. Websites such as Footnote in which users can search for and upload historical files and documents, creating a comprehensive database for History buffs. Or even the good old Youtube that allows users to upload any type of videos (copyrights infringements apart - I do not agree with uploading copyrighted material) create dynamic and social possibilities for exchange of knowledge. Let’s take, for instance this video of my hometown in Brazil. How else would I have run into a video of this nature if not on Youtube? The long tail, niche, user-generated: all great concepts that allow for real learning/knowledge exchange.