Week 7 of Learn 2.0

This was probably the least intensive week so far, or at least the one that grabbed me the least. That's not to say that the applications were any less interesting, just that they weren't things I could see myself using. For instance, even if I decided to pursue a more healthy lifestyle (and God knows it wouldn't hurt me), I don't think I would use Traineo. Mostly, it's the touted use of "motivators" that puts me off. If I wanted to do something, that's one thing. Then someone might mention, "hey, have you been doing something different recently? You look great!" and it would feel like an accomplishment. But with this system, your parents, friends, or whoever are vested in your success. Frankly, if someone asked me to be their motivator, I would feel put-upon and not want to help out, whereas if we were doing it together, it would be more of a team effort. I guess I just don't like the idea of everyone else knowing what I'm doing all the time. It would make me feel even worse if I didn't do very well, knowing that other people were getting updates and watching.

Dogster and Catster, on the other hand, seem much more fun (maybe even more rewarding?). I don't have any pets at the moment, but I can definitely see how people who already treat their animals as children would relish the opportunity to create a webpage for their beloved little people. Blufr is a lot of fun, a neat timewaster and way to collect trivia. As for Chug'd and BottleTalk, I'm just not very interested. Not being a drinker myself, it's hard for me to see the appeal, but I can understand how people who make their own drinks or appreciate the artistic sensibility inherent to wine tasting would find it useful. Even people who are new to alcohol would be able to view drinks tagged by other users and try new things based on reviews and "recommended if you like" functions. I liked YouPlay, but it didn't seem that much different from PopCap, the main difference being the specific games offered.

The adventure activity was kind of a disappointment, since my favorite hobby is reading, and we've already looked at so many awesome book related widgets and applications. Instead, I took this opportunity to go back and revisit the library-related web 2.0 applications that we've already looked at, to go more in-depth. I've added books to my virtual libraries and gotten many books UnSuggested to me since then!