Editing Social web (section)

==Evolution==
The social web is a way of life: many people visit [[social networking service]]s at least once per day, and in 2008 the average amount of time per visit to MySpace hovered around twenty-six minutes (the length of a sitcom).<ref name= Porter />{{rp|18}} Furthermore, the astoundingly rapid growth of the social Web since the '90s is not projected to slow down anytime soon: with less than 20% of the world's population using the Internet, the social Web is felt by some to still be in its infancy.<ref name= Porter />{{rp|20}} The line between social networking and social media is becoming increasingly blurred as sites such as Facebook and Twitter further incorporate photo, video, and other functionalities typical of social media sites into users' [[User profile|public profiles]], just as social media sites have been integrating features characteristic of [[social networking service]]s into their own online frameworks.<ref name=Won />{{rp|233}} One notable change that has been brought about by the merging of social networking/media is the transformation of social web applications into egocentric software that put people at the center of applications.<ref name= Porter />{{rp|16}} Although there had been discussion about a sense of community on the web prior to these innovations, modern social web software makes a wider set of social interactions available to the user, such as "[[friending]]" and "following" individuals, even sending them virtual gifts or kisses.<ref name=Porter />{{rp|16}}  Social Web applications are typically built using [[object oriented programming]], utilizing combinations of several programming languages, such as [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], [[PHP]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[ASP.NET (programming language)|ASP.NET]] and/or [[Java (programming language)|Java]]. Often [[API]]s are utilized to tie non-social websites to [[social website]]s, one example being Campusfood.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campusfood.com |title=Order Food Online - Food Delivery, Restaurant Menus, College Campuses, Pizza, Chinese, Wings, Takeout |publisher=Campusfood.com |access-date=2011-10-20}}</ref>

===Blogs and wikis===

Both [[blogs]] and [[Wikis]] are prime examples of collaboration through the Internet, a feature of the group interaction that characterizes the social Web.<ref name=Porter />{{rp|16}} Blogs are used as BBS for the 21st century on which people can post discussions,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ward|first=Ruth|title=Blogs and Wikis a Personal Journey|journal=Business Information Review|year=2006|volume=23|issue=4|pages=234–240|doi=10.1177/0266382106072240|s2cid=156217287}}</ref> whereas Wikis are constructed and edited by anyone who is granted access to them. Members of both are able to see the recent discussions and changes made, although for many blogs and Wikis such as [[Wikipedia]] this is true even for non-members. Blogs and Wikis allow users to share information and educate one another, and these social interaction are focused on content and meaning.<ref>{{cite web|last=Richardson|first=Will|title=The Social Web|url=https://sremote.pitt.edu/gtx/,DanaInfo=find.galegroup.com+retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&qrySerId=&inPS=true&tabID=T003&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R1&retrieveFormat=PDF&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=upitt_main&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sort=DateDescend&docId=A151440719&noOfPages=2 |publisher=www.techlearning.com |access-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> Blogs and Wikis are used by both those writing them and those who reference them as resources.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ferriter|first=Bill|title=Learning with Blogs and Wikis|journal=Educational Leadership|date=Feb 2009|pages=34–40 |volume=66 |number=5 |url=http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning-with-Blogs-and-Wikis.aspx|access-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> Blogs allow members to share ideas and other members to comment on those ideas, while Wikis facilitate group collaboration: both of these tools open a gateway of communication in which social interaction allows the web to develop.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/02/05/what-is-a-blog/ |title=What is a Blog? |publisher=Problogger.net |date=2005-02-05 |access-date=2011-10-20}}</ref> These sites are used by teachers and students alike to accomplish the goal of sharing education, and working in a community with other scholars enables the users to see different interpretations of similar subjects as well as to share resources that might not be available to them otherwise.<ref>[[Wikipedia:School and university projects]]</ref>

===Mobile connectivity support===
Most [[social networking service]]s offer [[mobile app]]s and [[internet phone]] connectivity.<ref name=Won />{{rp|233}} Popular social web sites such Facebook Mobile, [[Orkut]], Twitter, and YouTube have led the way for other sites to enable their users to post and share new content with others, update their statuses and receive their friends' updates and uploaded content via mobile platforms.<ref name=Won />{{rp|233}}The central aim for both sites offering these mobile services and for those who use them is for the user to maintain contact with their [[Online friendship|friends online]] at all times; it allows them to update their profiles and to communicate with each other even when they are away from a computer.<ref name=Won />{{rp|233}} It is predicted that this trend will continue in the future, not as other sites follow suit to offer similar services, but as they are extended to other mobile devices that social web users will carry with them in years to come.<ref name= Won />{{rp|233}}  Social web mobile applications can also allow for [[augmented reality]] gaming and experiences; examples of such include SCVGR and [[Layar]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Elgan|first1=Mike|title=Augmented reality on Android already available!|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2480962/mobile-wireless/augmented-reality-on-android-already-available-.html|website=Computerworld|language=en|date=2008-10-23}}</ref>

===Social features added to non-social sites===

Web sites that are not built around social interaction nevertheless add features that enable discussion and collaboration out of an interest in expanding their user bases—a trend that is projected to continue in the coming years.<ref name= Won />{{rp|233}} As early as 1995 electronic retailer [[Amazon.com|Amazon]] had implemented such features, especially the customer review, to great success; Joshua Porter, author of ''Designing for the Social Web,'' writes:

{{cquote|At Amazon, customer reviews act like a magnet, pulling people down the page. That's the content people want...They keep scrolling until they hit the reviews, which in some cases are up to 6000 pixels down from the top of the page! Nobody seems to mind...Customer reviews allow people to learn about a product from the experience of others without any potentially biased seller information. No wonder everyone wanted to shop at Amazon. They had information that no other site had: they had the ''Truth''. And that truth, interestingly enough, arose from simply aggregating the conversation of normal people.<ref name=Porter />{{rp|4}}}}

These customer reviews contribute valuable information that individuals seek out, and are written by users for free simply out of a desire to share their experiences with a product or service with others; the quality and value of each review is further determined by other users, who rate them based upon whether or not they found the feedback helpful, "weeding out the bad (by pushing them to the bottom [of the page])."<ref name= Porter />{{rp|4}}

Non-retailer, special interest websites have also implemented social web features to broaden their appeal: one example is Allrecipes.com, a community of 10 million cooks that share ideas and recipes with one another.<ref>{{cite web|last=Levi-Garza|first=Jalaane|title=Allrecipes Content & Technology Services|url=http://allrecipes.com/help/aboutus/licensing.aspx|publisher=AllRecipes.com|access-date=7 June 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018123024/http://allrecipes.com/Help/aboutus/licensing.aspx|archive-date=18 October 2006}}</ref> In addition to exchanging recipes with others through the website, users are able to rate and post reviews of recipes they have tried, and to provide suggestions as to how to improve or alter them;<ref name=allrecipes>{{cite web|title=Community Help/FAQ|url=http://allrecipes.com/Help/questions/faq/community.aspx#homepage|work=Allrecipes Customer Support}}</ref> according to the website, "The ratings/reviews...are a valuable resource to our community because they show how the members and their families feel about a recipe. Does the recipe get raves—or does it never get made again? Your opinion counts".<ref name=allrecipes />  This feedback is used to evaluate and classify recipes based upon how successfully they passed through the site's "editorial process" and to what extent they were approved by site members, potentially resulting in receiving "Kitchen approved" status that is comparable to Wikipedia's [[Good Article nominations|"good article" nomination]] process.<ref name=allrecipes /> The site has also augmented its services by including social features such as user blogs and connecting with other social networking/media sites like Facebook<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/allrecipes |title=Allrecipes.com Facebook page |publisher=Facebook.com |date=2009-01-10 |access-date=2011-10-20}}</ref> to expand its presence on the social Web. The recipes found on this website become part of the social web as other members rank them, comment and provide feedback as to why the recipe was good or bad, or to share ways in which they would change it.

The integration of "social" features has also begun to extend into non-Web media forms including print and broadcast. Increasingly prevalent mobile devices have offered a platform for media companies to create hybridised media forms which draw upon the social web, such as the [[Yahoo!7#Fango mobile app|Fango mobile app]] offered by Australian partnership [[Yahoo!7]] which combines traditional TV programming with live online discussions and existing social networking channels.

===Social art===

Artists use the social Web to share their art, be it visual art on sites like [[deviantART]], video art on [[YouTube]], musical art on YouTube or [[iTunes]], or [[physical art]], such as posting and selling crafted items on [[Craigslist]].  Artists choose to post their art online so that they can gain critiques on their work, as well as just have the satisfaction of knowing others can experience and enjoy their work.  With this social web generation, students spend more time using social tools like computers, video games, video cameras and cell phones.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jovanović|first=Jelena|author2=Dragan Gašević |author3=Carlo Torniaic |author4=Scott Batemand |author5=Marek Hatalae |title=The Social Semantic Web in Intelligent Learning Environments: state of the art and future challenges|journal=Interactive Learning Environments|date=December 2008 |volume=17|issue=4|pages=273–309|doi=10.1080/10494820903195140|s2cid=6087335}}</ref> These tools allow the art to be shared easily, and aid in the discussion.

===Collaborative efforts facilitated by the social web===

====Crowdsourcing====
{{Main|Crowdsourcing}}

Crowdsourcing has become one of the ways in which the social Web can be used collaborative efforts, particularly in the last few years, with the dawn of the [[semantic web]] and Web 2.0.  Modern web applications have the capabilities for crowdsourcing techniques, and consequently the term is now used exclusively for web-based activity.  Examples include sites such as SurveyMonkey.com and SurveyU.com; for example, SurveyMonkey enables users to administer surveys to a list of contacts they manage, then collect and analyze response data using basic tools provided on the website itself and finally export these results once they are finished.<ref>{{cite web|title=SurveyMonkey User Manual|url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/SurveyMonkeyFiles/UserManual.pdf|work=User Manual|access-date=2011-06-08}}</ref>

Crowdsourcing is used by researchers in order to emulate a traditional [[focus group]], but in a less expensive and less intimate atmosphere.
Due to the nature of the social Web, people feel more open to express what their thoughts are on the topic of discussion without feeling as though they will be as heavy scrutinized by the rest of the group when compared to a traditional setting.  The Internet serves as a screen, helping to evoke the purest feedback from the participants in the group, as it removes much of a [[mob mentality]].<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Leah DeVun |url=https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/07/crowd_captain?currentPage=all |title=Wired News. Web. 19 Nov. 2009 |magazine=Wired |publisher=Wired.com |date=2007-05-10 |access-date=2011-10-20|author-link = Leah DeVun}}</ref>

Facebook has also been a mode in which crowdsourcing can occur, as users typically ask a question in their status message hoping those that see it on his or her news feed will answer the question, or users may opt to use the poll option now available to obtain information from those within their friends network.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/blog.php?post=411795942130 |title=Searching for Answers? Ask Facebook Questions |publisher=Facebook |access-date=2011-10-20}}</ref>

====Community-based software projects====

Through the use of the social Web, many software developers opt to participate in community-based [[open-source software]] projects, as well as hacking projects for [[proprietary software]], [[kernel (operating system)|kernel (computing)]] modifications, and [[freeware]] ports of games and software. [[Linux]] iterations are perfect examples of how effective and efficient this sort of collaboration can be.  Google's [[Android (operating system)|Android operating system]] is another example, as many coders work on modifying existing hardware kernels and ROMs to create customized forms of a released Android version. These collaborative efforts for Android take place typically through [[xda-developers]] and androidforums.com.

===Mobile application development===

Most of the modern mobile applications, and indeed even browser applications, come from released [[software development kits]] to developers. The developers create their applications and share them with users via "app markets". Users can comment on their experiences with the applications, allowing all users to view the comments of others, and thus have a greater understanding of what is to be expected from the application. Typically there is also a rating a system in addition to comments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/support/androidmarket/bin/answer.py?answer=138329 |title=Comment Posting Policy - Android Market Help |access-date=2011-10-20}}</ref>

Mobile social Web applications are built using various [[API]]s. These APIs allow for the interaction and interconnection of data on one social database, be it Facebook, Twitter, or [[Google Account]], thus creating a literal web of data connections. These applications then add to the user experience specific to the application itself.  Examples include [[TweetDeck]] and [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://developer.android.com/reference/packages.html |title=Package Index &#124; Android Developers |publisher=Developer.android.com |access-date=2011-10-20}}</ref>