Image: Wikipedia

As technical communicators, we know how to develop content. In this blog, let us talk about how we can deliver and curate content in ways and forms the users expect from us. Let us talk about how our roles and careers are going to shape up in the world of Web 2.0 and beyond.

Through this blog, I’m trying to convince the technical communicators we need to be familiar with developing, managing, and curating information for the Web 2.0 properties or risk extinction.

I’m presenting a talk on this theme this Saturday (17-July-2010) at the STC India regional conference in Bangalore. See you there! Or wait for my slides and presentation videos to be uploaded soon.

Use of Documentation

The landscape has changed in the technical communication world.

The users expect help topics to show up in Google (or other) search results.

They want to share, comment, and challenge the accuracy of help topics.

They want to discuss and collaborate with other users, subject matter experts, and other stakeholders.

They want to track updates on products and services in real time.

They want to do this on computers, mobile phones, net-books, and on Internet TVs (which are coming soon).

Web 2.0 in Technical Communication

Here are a few external sources where you can read more about Web 2.0 and how it impacts on technical communication. Do share your thoughts in the comments.

What is Web 2.0 (Wikipedia page) – an excerpt:

The term “Web 2.0” is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with each other as contributors to the website’s content, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups, and folksonomies.

Web 2.0 in Technical Communication (white paper, PDF) – an excerpt:

The rise of Web 2.0 technology provides a platform for user-generated content. Publishing is no longer restricted to a few technical writers—any user can now contribute information. But the information coming from users tends to be highly specific, whereas technical documentation is comprehensive but less specific. The two types of information can coexist and improve the overall user experience. User-generated content also offers an opportunity for technical writers to participate as “curators”—by evaluating and organizing the information provided by end users.

More Links