Web 2.0 is Not Scary

Snakes, spiders or one of those centipedes with a what seems like a million legs can bring genuine fear to many people. Facebook, YouTube or Twitter never generate fear, or so I thought.

A few weeks back I was telling a colleague about a new feature my staff set up on a Facebook page.  The conversation when something like this,

"Are you on Facebook?" I asked
"Nope" she responded as her eyes widened and a nervous smile crossed her face "My kids are on it all the time" she added hastily
"Setting up an account is easy" I said trying to alleviate her emerging fear, "All you have to do is go to Facebook.com and click the Sign-up button"
"Well, I'm not sure I would use it and I don't really have time at work to use Facebook" she said

I was surprised to encounter this resistance. She was not anti-Facebook. Her resistance was different. It was only after I left that I began to realize that she was afraid. It is natural to be afraid of something new.

Those feelings of uneasiness, or fear, are long forgotten once you gain experience using something or knowledge about the subject. To that end, the Digital Community program at my school  has set up a blog to help people in the Ryerson community become more comfortable using Web 2.0 tools.

The blog, called RU 2.0?, is meant to provide basic information and instruction on Web 2.0 tools for students, student groups and service program staff in the Ryerson community. The content posted on RU 2.0? is easily found elsewhere online as there are several excellent resources that explain how to use tools like RSS feeds, a Wiki or a blog. RU 2.0? centralizes the information so it is easily found.

By providing this resource we hope to prove that not only is Web 2.0 not scary, but that it can open up new and exciting possibilities.