NETSCAPE needs no introduction. It is one of the world’s top social news sites, the others being Digg, Reddit and Newsvine.

Not only does Netscape harness the power of the collective intelligence of thousands of users who collaboratively rank and comment upon the top news, this participatory media also recognizes the worth of individual users who are particularly able at spotting and commenting upon trends.

These users know too, how to start conversations and they have a particular gravitational pull that endows them with a value worth far more than any content.

It is the Netscape Anchors I am talking about. These top contributors add tremendous value to Netscape. And Netscape is very aware of this. They know that value lies in people.

I know this too.

And, that is why I chose to contact Alexia at Netscape. I asked her if she would allow me to interview her, as I wanted to get a view of the person behind the Netscape Anchor title.

She generously agreed to answer my questions, providing me with little-known facts about herself.

Here is the interview:

MO: What made you think of getting into this field of being an anchor blogger. You must have been inspired. I’d like to know your thought process if I may?

AP: I never actually thought of being a professional blogger. I didn’t think I had enough to say about anything to justify trying for a career in print.

What attracted me to Netscape was the idea of an alternate, public, free media distribution source. I am passionate about the public voice, and was always interested in finding a way to communicate more immediately, more honestly (unedited) with larger and larger audiences, and to encourage others to do the same. Netscape offers me the chance to do just that.

I was and still am inspired by the fundamental laws of this country. Specifically, freedom of speech. I am inspired to make as many videos about as many different things as I can by the sheer fact that I have the freedom to do it.

MO: You must be a power user-I can quite well imagine, and your use of the internet I expect provides inspiration and information­? How do you go about finding ideas?

AP: I’m actually not a power-user, I don’t think. I use the internet for research. In terms of how it helps me to find ideas… There are such great articles on everything all over the internet.

When I’m researching something I’ll read a cool article and will literally follow every tangent inside that article in order to get a good base of knowledge on the thing I’m researching. All of those tangents provide ideas.

MO: What is it you focus on, when you spend your time on the internet?

AP: Information, teaching tools and email. I don’t use it to “connect” with people beyond email. I like a face-to-face connection.

MO: What do you want from it-please specify- it may be that it offers you the opportunity for creating something, for developing skills, for networking, for-yes there’s lots. I’d love to hear!!!

AP: Same as above: I use the internet to learn. That learning sometimes inspires ideas, but usually life inspires more ideas. The internet is really a tool for me, not an environment, if that makes any sense. I still like to go to bars or others’ houses to hang out with friends, to the gym to get exercise, and to travel to get some chill time. I don’t seek any of those things on the internet.

MO: Please let me know about you!

Who are you? This can encompass so much-your values, aspirations, competencies, how you see yourself and where you want to go! Please expound!!!

AP: I am a storyteller and an optimist. “Values” is a much-abused word so I’ll stay away from that for the moment and say that the things that are important to me are honesty, self-love, kindness, and equality.

There’s a Buddhist idea that I’m fond of: if you don’t love yourself then you can’t give love to anyone else, so I spend a fair amount of time trying to make sure the choices I make are the correct ones for me.

Lastly, where I want to go is owning my own home, creating a flower & veggie garden so I can eat what I grow, and to continue getting better and better at filmmaking. And, you know, if I would get an original TV series on the air that wouldn’t suck…:)

MO: Where else can I find you on the internet-on business networking sites for example?

AP: Well, there’s my unbelievably shitty website www.vectorscopefilms.com, which is due for a complete overhaul, and then there’s my brand new blog: lextopia.blogspot.com. You can probably figure out a lot about me there.

MO: What do you know of Web 2.0? And if you have anything to say about this-what the trends are, I’d like to hear this too.

AP: I don’t know anything beyond it seems to be a concept and not really a tangible thing. For instance, you can’t go out and buy Web 2.0.

MO: Last BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST-NETSCAPE-What do you want to say about it?

AP: I love it. I think what Jason and all of us have done is amazing.

We’ve started a conversation. Or at least created a place where a few can happen. And we’re continuing to develop it as a venue where anyone can come and express themselves in a variety of media. THAT’S democracy!

MO: I’d certainly like to hear, amongst other things, and everything that you choose to add:

What do you get out of this?

AP: I get what the users get: the chance to say what I think in the way that I want to say it and hope that some of the users respond to what I’ve put forward.

MO: How does this add to your wished for things to do in life-how does it help you on the “path” you wish to take?

AP: It affords me the freedom to explore. We rarely get that chance in our day jobs, and I love it.
How it helps me is that I continue to hone my shooting, editing and storytelling skills.

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I’d like to thank Alexia for being so approachable and generous in her sharing of herself.

Furthermore, I’d like to say that knowing the person behind the title at Netscape now adds to an augmented view of Netscape; one that adds, through a personal context, even greater credibility.

I wonder if Netscape might consider letting their anchors provide a more nuanced personal profile; one that adds more value to their already excellent design strategy?

Last week, I realised I had made an awful omission when tentatively introducing services on web 2. Ok, I haven’t just introduced them yet. I’ll get into that.

Plenty of time yet to hear about folksonomies, collective value, wisdoms of crowds, participation at a distance, rich user experiences through building networks of trust online…

But this week, I’d like to rectify what I didn’t mention by mentioning it now-

LEARNING

And I want to introduce the Open University’s online learning initiative at this point.

It’s great to see the Open University take to online learning. Why, it has been the free radical of the educational establishment as far back as I can remember-giving opportunities to the wider public and believing in self-regulated learning well before our stiff British educational institutions even thought about giving up central command.

It is seemingly the first UK higher education institution to make its study materials freely available online. Ok, I’d like to have that corroborated. A pretty astounding admission, I think.

But anyway, with nearly 900 hours of learning resources available, it was launched last week on Wednesday, October 25.

So. I’ve been in, enrolled, left my profile-the only one to date. It was gone yesterday after I’d painstakingly authored it. But that was the server’s fault. Down!!! I don’t think taking backup has been a priority as yet. Or it has just become one!

And deciding on how students should figure out how to enter this as co creators, worthy participants in true web 2 form has obviously drawn a big blank. For there is nothing to indicate what dicussions will ensue, how meaning negotiation or social negotiation for that matter, is to be facilitated nor is the tutor shown.

Oh, there’s a tutor alright, at least that’s what I take the faceless OU Administrator participant icon to mean But not dismayed, I’ve decided to start a discussion.

Of course, it will mean plowing through 7 “information blocks” with underlying chunked together taxonomies of newsgatherings, newsgatherings now, ict processes in news gatherings, in order to find something that is not irrelevant, too unattractive, too broadly abstract or too technical to talk about.

And it will also mean, figuring out the best way to initiate discussions faced with a personless void.

One wouldn’t want to just write anything spontaneous, too revealing and expect the response to be positive just based on TRUST?

But there we are. Systems remain in some cases to be systems. Never liked them.

Though I build them myself. But then I think, as many information architects, usability engineers or anyone with a little bit of savvy on how the dynamics of human interaction are built and maintained, do - that its the people who should be allowed to come to the fore.
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I have enrolled in the course entitled T175_8ICT’s: Information.

The course description starts with:

This unit considers €˜information’ and the technology used in its dissemination. More specifically, the information considered is news and how news has been gathered and provided.

I look forward to a professional collaborative learning experience!

I’d like to see what the OU has envisaged this as becoming.

And I wonder, since nearly all the best initiatives that have been pioneering in the web 2 sphere, have given up on certain ingrained beliefs, to embrace others (Napster, Flikr made data public when everyone else said it should be kept private; Amazon focused all its energies online).

I wonder what the Ou’s investment thesis is. It could be to attract users that in the long run will promote growth through giving the students autonomy and agency online.

Yes that’s it: they have given up their central control in return for an explosion of free thinking learning communities. I think?