essay first draft

Mariah Aguinaldo

I Already Know We Agree
The topic of discussion made in “It’s All about Us” by Steven Johnson and “Enough about You” by Brian Williams is Web 2.0 and whether or not blogging is helping or hindering society. Johnson argues that blogging offers people a new kind of news that the media fails to report: local issues. He states, “Those experts realize that they can’t compete with the real experts: the people who live in these communities and know all the issues- small and large- that shape their daily lives” (p. 448), meaning that blogging is helping those within the same community report on what is important to them specifically. Williams however believes that Web 2.0 is having a negative effect on society and that people are becoming overly focused on themselves and nothing more. He argues that people are not getting the same type of information that a news paper can give and states, “It is now possible- even common- to go about your day in America and consume only what you wish to see and hear.” (p. 450) Although Web 2.0 highlights smaller stories and local topics that the media fails to report on, Williams argument is valid in that people choose to only listen and view what they know they are already interested in and choose to meet people online that they already know they have everything in common with and do not pay attention to other viewpoints or what they fail to realize that they need to know.
Williams makes the stronger argument because, even though Web 2.0 is a place for people to write about what is going on in their community, people are still focused only on what they want to read about and that includes reading only about what is going on in their community as opposed to world news. Users of Web 2.0, which includes basically the whole population of internet users, are becoming self centered and closed off to what is going on in a broader spectrum. Williams states, “The larger dynamic at work is the celebration of self…the assumption is that an audience of strangers will be somehow interested…” (p.449-450). He is saying that with the creation of Web 2.0 people are beginning to believe that everything that they say and believe in is what is important. They also assume that others will agree with their opinions. These are the people that one chooses to talk to; those and only those that share their same opinions. This does not offer growth or exploration, merely promotes concern with one’s own interests. An example of the narrow-mindedness of Web 2.0 can be proven through one of the most popular kinds on websites out there today: dating websites.
There are those that praise dating websites such as match.com and eHarmony and believe that they helped them find the love of their life. Whether or not this fact is true is not the point, people should be able to find their perfect match by any means possible. The fact of the matter is that these dating websites are stunting the growth of creative couples. These websites help people find their match using personality assessments, meaning that these sites ask the users to fill out lengthy surveys about their likes, dislikes and belief systems. The website then matches people with those who share the most in common based off of these personality assessments. This ensures that not only will the user be pared up with someone with their same interests but also with someone that believes everything that they believe in too. Now, people may look at this system of pairing as nothing but positive because one does not have to go through the grueling process of meeting new people that they have nothing in common with. But this system offers no growth of an individual, no exploration of an opposite that they may be attracted to and creates couples in the world that will be completely closed off to differing opinions. Web 2.0 is creating generation after generation of close-minded people only interested in talking to and discussing important topics with those who they know will agree with everything that they have to say.
From interests such as music and television shows to new stories and novels, Web 2.0 allows users to choose to only listen and view what they know they are already interested in. Web 2.0 websites have created a place for people to look up and download any musician of their choice. They have also created a place for people to look up news stories and topics that pertain to their interests. In an individual’s perfect world, all major events and newsworthy stories would focus around themselves and always be interesting to that specific individual. But nothing is perfect, and no one lives in a world where everything around them is for that one individual. However, Web 2.0 is playing into that desire; the desire to be completely self involved and only have to focus on what one wants to believe is important.
Williams says, “The danger just might be that we miss the next great book or the next great idea, or that we fail to meet the next great challenge…because we are too busy celebrating ourselves and listening to the same tune we already know by heart.” (p.450) He is saying that by being completely self-centered and focusing only on what one already knows they enjoy, people are going to miss what is out there that they have not explored yet. Just as people may miss out on the next great novel of their generation, they will miss out on the next individual that will challenge them to think outside their comfort zone. They will fail to go on that next big adventure because they have chosen to match themselves with someone they know already agree with and think as they do. A dating website called eHarmony is said to have its users fill out “a ‘Relationship Questionnaire.’ This information is used to derive a relationship coefficient. Each person is then informed of individuals who are highly compatible and with whom further communication would be useful.” (p.51) Dating websites such as this one matches people purely by surveys such as these. If people are forever going to be matched with those who mirror themselves or with those who will offer them constant validation for already existing viewpoints, then how is society as a whole going to grow? Like someone choosing to listen only to their favorite song time after time, Web 2.0 is giving people the choice to listen and pick a match that will agree with them time after time.

Works Cited
Johnson, Steven. “It’s All About Us." Signs of Life in the USA. Sixth ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's 2009. 446-48. Print.
King, Aimee E., Deena Austin-Oden, and Jeffrey M. Lohr "Browsing for Love in All the Wrong Places." Skeptic 15.1 (2009): 48-55. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2009.
Williams, Brian. “Enough about You.” Signs of Life in the USA. Sixth ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's 2009. 449-50. Print.