On her wiki ( http://collectiveintelligence.wikispaces.com/ ), Liz Davis asks the question:

How has your learning, your intelligence, your life been changed, improved, and/or affected by the social web, social networking, Web 2.0 (or whatever you want to call it)?

The social web has made me a more intrepid learner. Access to networked information through digg, del.icio.us, Twitter, et. al. has strengthened my conviction that most of my questions have been asked (and answered) before. And I'm also more confident that I'll be able to track down the information I'm looking for. So, for example, when I started finding myself answering other people's questions about Twitter, I immediately set up a webpage to start building a FAQ that I could refer others to. I knew I wasn't anywhere close to a Twitter expert. But I figured I could probably pull together a collection of reasonably representative expert Twitter knowledge. I even figured there was a good chance someone had already done THAT. But I was happy to learn by doing.

The social web has raised my expectations. I figure that with so many of us having 24/7 access to the collective wisdom of the spheres (or at least of the tubes), graphics should be clearer. Audience connection should be stronger. Presentations should be more engaging. Including mine.

The social web has increased my self-knowledge. Blogger profile. Twitter profile. Details for my LinkedIn page. Author note for my Blurb book. All these repeated requests (or at least blank and waiting spaces) for self-description have meant that I've spent more time in the past year thinking about who I am than I did in the years before that.  I feel that I am moving towards the things I really care about a little faster than I otherwise might have.

The social web has lessened the "fear factor" formerly associated with collaboration. When I was working on pulling together a selection of haiku to self-publish, I immediately remembered my experience of contributing an illustration to Patti Digh's forthcoming book. Using the creative commons' enabled search feature on Flickr, I found illustrations for the haiku I didn't already have images for. And not a single potential contributor turned me down. Although one did ask me to consider making a "thank-you" charitable contribution. Which I did.

The social web has cut down on my assumptions about who might be interested in what I have to say. With so many opportunities for instant-feedback, I've gotten "thank you's" and "this was great's" from people who, if I'd tried to predict beforehand, I would have said might not care.

The social web has changed my ideas about teaching. The dominant paradigm for teaching still seems to be "I know some stuff you probably don't, so let me tell you about that."  Web 2.0 technologies give learners a greater presence in that equation. If I'm looking to learn breakdancing moves from YouTube, I can self-select for the ones that look the most helpful.