How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web? Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings? Why or why not?
I had to really think about this one because I’m not sure I know many experts. I thought about one of the professors in the FSU Psychology program, Dr. Anders Ericsson. Dr. Ericsson is an expert on experts. His website states an expert is “one who has acquired special skill in or knowledge of a particular subjects through professional training and practical experience” (Webster’s dictionary, 1976, p. 800).
In looking back on the people I’ve met in person and whom I would consider as an expert, I usually come to that conclusion based on the above definition. Dr. Faxon is an expert in evaluation because her business is based solely on evaluation and I would assume she knows a lot about it since most of her professional experience is in that area. Many of the people I work with are experts in the field of insurance because they’ve spent their professional careers in the industry. But I know all of these people. I’ve met them and they have proof of their experience.
We don’t always have the benefit of knowing people on the web. So if we don’t know them, how can we determine they are experts? I judge expertise on the web based on a person’s “presence” on the web. If you Google Dr. Ericcson, you’ll find pages and pages about him and his work. If I didn’t know him, I would still consider him an expert anyway because gee, if all of these other people are talking about him and referencing him, he must know something! As for the author of our course book, Dr. Axel Bruns, he doesn’t seem to have very much presence on the web. He wrote a book and he has a website. So, does that mean he knows what he’s talking about? (Let’s hope so, because I don’t.) Maybe he does know what he’s talking about, but I’m not sure he’s at the “expert” level in my mind, but rather a commentator.
As for expertise in web 2.0, I take everyone’s contribution equally. I value everyone’s opinion. But just because someone talks a lot doesn’t mean they know what they’re talking about.