Humanizing the Web: Change and Social Innovation

by Harri Oinas-Kukkonen

List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements Introduction and History Social Web as a Transformer Social Web as an Innovation Accelerator Social Web as a Humanizer Final Remarks Notes/Endnotes References Primary sources Index

Genres: Nonfiction, Finnish Literature

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Aarne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book goes through the history of the Web and its early predecessors, examples of how the Web has changed business and our social environment and tries to predict the future of social (and more human) web.

Very good summary overall and offers a lot of food for thought that sparks new ideas for students and entrepreneurs that aim to change the world.

[Aditya Mehta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to see the Web from comprehensive perspective with looking at past, present and future of Web. However, it gets repetitive at times, so ensure not to loose the interest. A perfect book for a student of Web Science.

[Terri Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors, both on the faculty at the University of Oulu, Finland, start with an informative history of the social web. We are part of the social web where end-users jointly create much of the content and companies work to engage in this process. “[T]he most essential change that has taken place is not about particular technology but it is rather a shift in thinking about how the web may be and is being used” (pp. 4-5). Five stars if you're into research and history. Four if you're looking for more general commentary.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SOCIAL ERA
If you liked Nilofer Merchant’s 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era , you’ll appreciate this deep treatment of how the social era came to be. Beyond history and concepts, Harri Oinas-Kukkonen & Henry Oinas-Kukonen also offer concrete direction on the core business values that are needed to create social web innovations:

Watchfulness for technological shifts
Thinking outside the box
Interpreneurial spirit
Appetite to fail fast.
Look too for how they explicitly take on differences between Silicon Valley approaches and the “Nordic Way.”

Take your time with Humanizing the Web. The Paradox and Innovation chapters especially deserve careful attention. Though you may be familiar with the issues from the popular press, this is an opportunity to learn more of the research behind how we think about privacy and changing forms of innovation, for example.