Web 2.0 - Pros and Cons of Web Based Technologies

This term I am not going to make it to any of the campus sessions due to work commitments so I am making the most of reading other peoples blogs to see what I have missed out on! I enjoyed watching some of the group presentations and videos on Rosemarys blog. Before even starting to read about Web 2.0 technology I found be known to me that I am already using it!

Pros

• Web based technologies makes the world a smaller place!  I often see jobs advertised on sights such as Dancers Pro for jobs in India, Africa and China. I even get sent a personal email when a job posted matches up with my skills. It is now possible to audition for jobs around the world via the web, uploading CV’s, photos, show reels and even getting in touch and auditioning via skype.
• Web based technologies speeds up the employment processes. No longer do you have to wait for CV’S and other information sent to reach potential employers by post, they can be sent instantly via the internet. This also saves time, money and paper on printing, copying disks and postal charges.
• There are a number of online sites (Dancer Pro, The Stage, Spotlight, Ents Web and agents such as Dancers International) where you can find out about auditions. These are constantly updated and so you are always provided with the most current information. It used to be the case that you would have to wait weekly for The Stage newspaper to come out to see what auditions were happening that week, whereas now it is online every day of the week for you to view.
• You can promote yourself to a large number of people by setting up your own professional page and through sites like Dancers Pro, Flickr and Spotlight. Here you can show yourself of as an artist using a mixture of photos, videos and written material.
• Often through social networking sites such as Facebook you hear through friends in the industry about jobs and upcoming auditions. There is such a mass amount of people that can be reached via such sites that even though they are designed for social networking it can often help with professional networking too.
•  As I dance teacher I work for a number of different dance schools and now most of them have their own Facebook page. Here they can promote their businesses to a wide audience, notify people of classes, changes, upcoming shows and events. And it is all cost free.

Cons

• After reading Adesola's blog on 'Validity and Cv's', I started to question are people showing their true selves or hiding behind technology? Obviously you want to show yourself in the best light to potential employers, but does this mean that sometimes the truth is extended or exaggerated? You can monitor what images and information you want other people to see. Will you hold certain information back? Could it be true that sometimes people don’t paint a full picture of themselves on the web?

• Blogs/ Facebook can be dangerous as its not just people from the professional worlds viewing them. It is easy to forget this when we can’t see exactly who is viewing our information. It is important not to give out personal information and make sure you have the correct security settings in place – you don’t want employers being able to see everything you do in your private life, it is not very professional and comments and be misconstrued and taken out of context.

Working for one cruise Ship Company I have had first-hand experience witnessing how such sites can work against you at times.  Performers were making comments about the shows and how they felt about them via Facebook, through friends of a friend on the site this got back to the bosses at the head office and they were pulled aside to have a talking too. You have to be very careful as you don’t want your reputation to be tarnished and have black marks against your name for future employment.

Conclusion

There are always going to be pros and cons using Web based technologies. However I feel if you use it sensibly and responsibly then it can be a great resource to use in this industry. As performing artists, Web based technology it is not really what we signed up for, but in this ever changing world it seems that we must keep up with technology and use it to our advantage in order to get the opportunities that we desire.