Why make a Wikihow?... Because you CAN!

         

We are all social media babies due to the invention of the internet and the evolution of the World Wide Web. Using the Web and being an author of the web is now one in the same. So if you haven’t made any contributions what are you waiting for? The internet has been called the next step in collective modern human evolution because of its profound ability to connect us and ensure collective intelligence will be handed down from generation to generation and will be the catalyst for exponential technological growth in the years to come. Conveniently enough of you were born within the last thirty years, you grew up in an era of computers and internet so using these tools are like breathing.

            For example creating a step by step tutorial for the deconstructing of an engine block or making a flour less chocolate cake can be done with ease! The actual task, well that’s a different story. People are picking up hobbies by watching YouTube videos and how-to’s, you can watch a video VLOG review of a product you are considering, or order food.

            The internet is a global network connecting millions of computers all over the world. The Web is a way of accessing information over the internet through servers that support specially formatted documents.  With the beginning of the Web (Web 1.0) sites were not interactive. Though they provided some information it was not enough to entice users to revisit sites. This was a period of time when organizations controlled the websites and the visitors had very little control. The next stage of this evolution is Web 2.0, an open source program. Meaning these source codes are available to everyone on the internet. Users were able to learn how these applications worked and make changes to them. They could even build their own sites. With this came the birth of social media and all of its social media babies.

            Wiki is one of the most popular social media sources. With so many branches of it, users can teach and share on almost any subject you can think of. There are wikis for entertainment, food, drinks, games, how to, health, political, product, references, religion, sports, travel and so much more. So what is the benefit of all these wiki sites? The ability to learn and share information. The ability to gain knowledge, and knowledge is power. As humans we have a driving need to discover not only new things and new people but new perspectives or outlooks on supposedly familiar scenarios or subjects. Even more so we have the need to share those things as well. Wiki is a small example of the internet’s ability to drive innovation and ingenuity like never before. Just like there are so many different wiki sites there are different benefits. Businesses can now benefit from free advertising, and easier communication between employees. Schools can provide information to the students and staff much easier. Online learning has become an essential part of the class room. So much so that a lot of classes don’t even make you purchase books anymore you just do the reading online. Friends and family are able to stay connected constantly, whether they live 5 minutes from each other or 5,000 miles from each other. This world has reached a level of interconnectedness it has never seen before.

            Of all the Wiki sites Wikihow has become undeniably one of the most popular. Entrepreneur Jack Herrick launched the site ten years ago with one goal in mind, to help anyone on the planet learn how to do anything. There are now more than a million users sharing their experiential knowledge. Wikihow provides how to do things with simple step by step directions. It also provides a list of all the tools you will need to complete whatever project you chose. With the boom of Web 2.0 also came a lot of fake information. Too many amateurs were publishing false information leaving sites like this marked as not credible. Wikihow has worked constantly to change that mind frame of users and maintain the accuracy of the information posted through hundreds of admin whose only job is to check facts and retain credibility.

            So what’s it like to be an author on wiki how? If there is a topic that you know well and it hasn’t already been demonstrated go for it. People use this site out of necessity, chances are if you need it other people do too. The website is user friendly and has tutorials so you can teach yourself. Pick a topic you are passionate about. If you have any questions along the way the admins are always there to help. Occasionally data can be lost. If you are working on a draft save it to a separate word document every so often. Just to be sure you don’t lose that work. Once you publish the article an admin messages you right away. They thank you for joining the team and give you helpful editing tips so your work can match their criteria. It’s also helpful to add links in your page to other related wiki how articles. Sharing a topic also teaches you more about the topic, you have to learn how to manage that project and make it easy to follow. Create an outline to follow step by step. You can upload your own photos as visual aids to your steps. Add in a tips and warnings section so you can share details you have learned along the way to stream line the process. Teaching someone how to do something can be very rewarding.

            The evolution of the World Wide Web changed many things about the way we communicate and how we share and learn. Wiki how is a user friendly site that is easy to work with. With tutorials and admin to help you every step of the way. Being an author is just a click away. It is now time to fulfill that driving need of learning and sharing with the world. 

Let's Talk About the Web Baby

My Theory of Webolution

I don't think anyone expected the Web to evolve the way it has. Web 1.0 was basically like looking at a virtual flyer or an online library. You could consume information but that was about it. Terrible graphics, links to other pieces of information but not much more. I had to search pretty hard to find a website that hadn't been updated since the early 2000's I'm sure everyone remembers Space Jam , or at least I hope you all do! This little piece of Michael Jordan history seems to be frozen in time. Well most of us were sitting around doubting the capabilities of the web other people (especially Tim O'Reilly) were out there dreaming about the technical possibilities and finding ways to put it into action, hence the birth of web 2.0. This is the Web that we are all most familiar with, social media, blogging, and sites like Wikipedia. This advance allowed us to be interactive and it is mostly user produced content. Oh the power of networking! Now you can share, collaborate, upload, and you don't have to be an expert. It is designed for everyday people. As users our lives were changed and our needs were met, we were happy until it began to consume our lives, because when you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk. By giving us more we end up wanting even more than what you gave us before! All of these advances are paving the way to the next step of evolution, Web 3.0. Some will argue it is yet to come some will argue we are already living it, but there were also those who argued 1.0 would never evolve. Let's not be fooled twice and dive into what the future Web holds. If at this point you're still a little confused do what i did and watch this video. So we can recap by saying there wasn't much technical change from 1.0-3.0 so much as social change. Web 3.0 is all about technical change. It has been refined and works off of semantics and algorithms. In easier terms it's like a bunch of documents got organized really well and are in multiple different categories. For example "Of mice and men" could come up in the categories of, books, mice, men, etc. By organizing the documents it is much easier for the user to sift through more information. It also allows the Web to predict what it is we are looking for. This is great for businesses and college students, but there are those who worry it is gathering to much personal information on us, invading our privacy. Whether you feel positive or negative about the advances of the Web, it, like all things, will evolve. Just keep an eye out if you think its gobbling up to much of your personal information.

Supply and Demand

Why has there been such an evolution of the Web? Understanding the history of the Web helps to understand how it has become a demand. Web 1.0 was about consuming information.  Websites were like virtual flyers or online libraries. Terrible graphics, links that only took users to other information. There was nothing beyond that. The technology was there but nothing came of it until what is called Web 2.0. This is what changed the Web forever and why it continues to change. Web 2.0 became interactive. Sites like Facebook, Amazon, Wikipedia changed the web forever. It allowed users to become interactive. Sharing, uploading, collaborating, networking and more have become options for users. Web 1.0 was the information era of the web and 2.0 is the social era. Once users realized the boundless opportunities they began to want more. The demand for faster, better organized information needs to be supplied. Next comes the semantic era, or the era of technical change. How can these programs make our web experience faster and easier? By creating better organized data bases with semantics and algorithms searches are narrowed and future searches are predicted based on individual search histories. For example if a user searches "shoes" frequently that search will become more refined to shoes the individual likes and also prompt advertisements of shoes. With Web 3.0 we went from simply sharing and interacting to having connective intelligence, connecting data, concepts, applications and ultimately people. The Web has gone far beyond being a virtual library or an outlet for social media. It is a crucial role in today's society. Being used by businesses, schools, hospitals and so many more has created this demand of rising technology, because we rely so much on the information as a functioning society it needed to be streamlined to suite our needs. Hence the supply and demand. If it is in demand it will be supplied. It has to be considered that this is an international demand. The evolution will continue, if you search the word "bank" on one side of the world there needs to be recognition on the other side of the world that means a "financial institution". With Web 3.0 the entire world can reach a level of connection it never has before. Imagine walking into a library and seeing books everywhere, no organization, no way of narrowing your search. A library without the Dewey Decimal System would be preposterous. Information is the key to life, with an easier way of getting to this information and searches being narrowed the sky is truly to limit in our Web capabilities. Some people worry that their privacy is at stake with this advance in technology, this is understandable to an extent, but thinking about how this technology will change future information seekers lives forever and possibly be an interconnected world for the first time ever should discredit those woes.