This will be a running post: Updated 19 Oct, 2006
The term "Web 2.0" (pronounced "web two point Oh") was conceived in 2005 to describe a new breed of websites that use newer web authoring tools, are low learning curves (for the user) and support a collaborative environment ... usually free and usually just all done in a web browser. source: Web Two Point Oh
Here, I wish to talk about a nascent Web-based movement called anti-social network (ASN) - i.e., the isolatr(s) who are in a crowded mall. The domain name,
www.isolatr.com, was registered in March 2006, but the movement is getting stonger by day and is also supported by technocratis, business people, and the like. This is one side of our story. The other side, synchoronously active and up, is about pro-social and pro-technical development in sustaining the infrastructure and infostructure of the Web. It is about a proposed theory of strengthening the network by Ajit Jaokar and those associated with the Internet backbone. The question is: Whose practice & / or theory is consolidating the network (s)? And, which sort of network(s) will last longer? To hear these stories you will have to bear with the narration of a librarian-cum-techie.
In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, called 'isolate.'
Oxford English Dictionary, says: i·so·late
• v. cause (a person or place) to be or remain alone or apart from others: a country that is isolated from the rest of the world.
And, then, God wanted to be Known. Or, as some others would put it, know yourself.
So ended isolation, I suppose? And this movement continued till I was alerted to diagnose my blogging spree.
A creative minority among the Netizens wish to give me a break. And the story of their move, going with introverts, is making waves. Lets' begin with my acquaintance with the word: isolate.
As a student of library and information science, I was taught of
common isolates.***
As a student of Multifaith world, I learnt about
Solitude (also seclusion, isolation). An interesting quote is here: "
May you discover solitude in a crowd." A blessing by: Swami Veda Bharati.
Now, comes from the blues, yet another isolatr:
"Link my blog! Link my blog. This shit is like gang rape sometimes. With Isolatr I can finally tell all these schmucks to get bent." source: Isolatr--the Anti-social Network
Thanks to
Jen for the tip about the Isolatr.
And thanks to
Tate for thinking loudly about a middle path, to any one who is looking around:
Is it possible to want to be in Isolatr and Linked-In at the same time? I want the best of both worlds. Give me access to people wanting to help or learn without being bombarded by people demanding to sell or preach.
My Sixty Four Dollar opinion and question: I don't like the analogy of 'gang rape' for a professional activity that is loved by all: also known as, citations, reference and linking. Dr. S R. Ranganathan's Third Law of Library Science says, Every book its reader (read as, every information its user). By this law of dissemination, asking other bloggers to
index my blog is not akin to any kind of begging, let alone exhibitionism or leading to temptations of getting raped.
Moreover, a request to say "link my blog" is something which the faithful cherish to do forever. Because it directly fulfills the Divine plan of being known - collectively and individually. In short, to be known you have to know, and cannot remain in isolation or in a self-contatined well.
However, I like the creative visualization of the minds behind the Isolatr Web site.
And, you will agree: see a sample from the
FAQs:
.Q: Can I invite you be [...] at this random web related conference I'm organizing?
.A: No.
.Q: Can I invite some of my friends to join me on isolatr?
.A: NO.
Anyways, this ASN phenomenon is catching up speed -- may grow or not, is not the question. The question is based on two other premises: First, the Web has gone deep into our daily life; second, Web has reduced the distances of both time and space. Based on this two factors, can we even think of going back into self-imposed (or randomly selected) categories of solitary confinement??? Will we be willing to loose the competitive intelligence (as well as the business intelligence) skills and competencies that we have built and brought so far?
And, what is this about the Web in our daily life? This may amaze some. And, those may like to read my review of the following book:
The Internet in Everyday Life, by Barry Wellman (Editor), Caroline Haythornthwaite (Editor)
I think the Internet (despite it being both a bane and boon) with the forces of convergence that the technology today facilitates is likely to last longer.
And, all this visualization of a stong, connected and networked social capital is not in isolation - nor my own juxtaposition against the practices of the Isolatr.
See the other side of the coin: A unified theory of Web 2.0 loaded with a conceptual (social, technical, and infrastructural) framework is at
A Unified Theory of Web 2.0 
I like this mind-map and would love to share with my audience:
Ajit Jaokar, a member of the Web 2.0 Workgroup has made an attempt to formulate a unified theory of Web2.0 based on re-arranging the seven principles layed outlined by O’Reilly:
.The Web As Platform
.Harnessing Collective Intelligence
.Data is the Next Intel Inside
.End of the Software Release Cycle
.Lightweight Programming Models
.Software Above the Level of a Single Device
.Rich User Experiences
What about Ajit’s wrap up then?
.What is web 2.0? It’s the intelligent web.
.What makes it intelligent? We do.
.How does it happen? By harnessing collective intelligence
.What do you need to harness collective intelligence? The other six principles!
May the breed of thinking reative minds for social networking grow fourfold - Amen.
For those who wish to re-view the above theoretical perspectives, might get food-for-thought from Netanel Jacobsson's questions
***[That is, some isolates can be like minded, to be called common and unlike others. F.Y.I. This is the knowledge that matters in classification of documents, and defined by Dr. S R Ranganathan, in his Colon Classification. Ranganathan, a genius, had many isolates, including space, time, etc., that would go along with his pack of the Five fundamental categories in a book classification process, viz., Personality, Matter, Energy, Space, and Time]
