Technological Change

What have you had to “unlearn” (i.e. that only phones are for having conversations) in the past 10 years due to technological change?
Technology is the future of the world and our generation is at the peak of technological expansion. When I was in grade school, my librarian taught me how to use the Dewey Decimal system, and I have not used that tool since than. Now I get on a computer and look up books in the JMU system. People doing research used to use books and hard copy sources, but now students use the internet to submit their research. The internet is faster, easier, and slowly building factual databases that will eventually put books online. Ill use JMU as an example. JMU has two libraries vs. a computer lab in almost every building, an increasing number of laptops that you can rent at the library, computers within the library, an internet based system of research databases and other sources of information, AND JMU almost requires each student to have a laptop when they enter as a freshman. I have come to realize that information in contemporary society is becoming more and more internet-based. I am learning to use all the sources of the internet-social networking sites, online merchants, research databases, etc. -to increase my knowledge base and expand past basic book research.

Rating Systems

Many online merchants today, such as eBay and Amazon, use rating systems empowered by its customers. Is this adequate for determining which products to buy, or which users to trust? Cite examples from these two merchants that support your opinion (whether it is good enough, or inadequate).

I think that rating systems are the only way to ensure trust when dealing with online merchants. People who are buying online do not know the quality of the products besaides what it says in the description. People need to be able to look at past transactions and decide if the user is trustworthy and decide if the product is what they are buying. Ebay uses a feedback system where people who bought from the user discuss their personal transaction with them. They talk about shipping, correct advertisement, product quality,and pleasant dealing with the seller. Buyers can look at this information and determine if they are willing to do business with the seller and pursue his products. Ebay has a % that tells the buyer about the sellers feedback when dealing with his customers. Anything around the up 90th percentile should constitute a "top-rated" seller. Amazon has a star rating system that shows how many people reviewed the product and how many starts the consumer gave the product. It gives the most helpful review as opposed to the most helpful critical review. This allows the buyer to look at both sides of the spectrum and decide which review outweighs the other. For example: the helpful review tells the buyer why the cell phone is great and how it helped them personally while the critical review allows the buyer to know some common problems or downfalls the product has. These rating systems allow users to experience all facets of knowledge that would not have in a store when they are dealing with the product and seller first hand. Rating systems have their downfalls, but they are the beast way to ensure trust in buying products online. Rating systems will continue to improve and so will the effectiveness of the online merchant community.

Cautions of Group Thinking

James Surowiecki’s book mentioned in this chapter outlines four elements to create a so-called “wise crowd,” one that can make decisions better than experts. These include “diversity of opinion” and “independence.” Since social groups online seem to form crowds of many like-minded people, what caution would you give someone using information they find from a socialized website or resource?

Diversity within groups allows for the collaboration of material, and a synergistic effect when problem solving. It allows people to think together and feed off each others ideas. Social groups that form online usually have people that either think alike or are interested in the same opinions and ideas. I have been apart of many groups in college, and most of the time I was able to use other group members knowledge to figure out a problem or create an idea for a paper. Each person adds there bit of information and it creates an atmosphere of flowing ideas that produce a greater outcome. Online social groups need to take precautions around biases that people in that group hold. When people join a group it is usually something they are interested in or already have an opinion about. Bias is a huge downfall in socialized websites. You can't take anything for granted because it might not be factually based. If people are aware of the opinions within their group they can look passed the bias and evaluate the factual part of their opinions. People in social groups need to look passed the information they need, and try to form factual based decisions that eliminate bias.