Chronicle 2010; inter-disciplinary practice based research in documentary and the space of Web 2.0.

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We are witnessing a fundamental shift from the twentieth century when creating content was the exclusive preserve of a few media professionals. Non-professionals are now sharing forms of documentary reflection by publishing text, stills and increasingly video online. This project is situated in the context of this emerging field of participatory media and explores how it might develop in the second generation web environment known as 'Web 2.0.' 'Web 1.0' can be seen as a publishing platform, an information source which included many personal web sites. The 'Web 2.0' platform arguably facilitates mass collaboration through data sharing, social networks, folksonomies, online tools for content creation, and rich media. Wikipedia, Flickr, Facebook exemplify 'Web 2.0' and suggest its power. With 'Web 2.0' evolving rapidly we are only just beginning to glimpse the creative potential of this space. This project will work with and reflect on 'Web 2.0' tools and applications and explore the new forms of creativity that it allows. Many documentaries can now be accessed online / whether short form video or longer 'auteur' work / but these are generally linear pieces which simply use the web as a distribution platform. More dynamic possibilities are emerging. On some video sharing sites and in Vlogs (video blogs) one can see pieces created in a 'a call and response' mode; a creative dialogue in rich media. Additionally there are some experiments in collaboration underway / the Echo Chamber project in the field of journalism, the mashups in OpenSource.com. My concern is with what a documentary practice might look like which takes advantage of the alleged affordances of Web 2.0 - the dialogic and collaborative potential of the network, the online tools for content creation and sharing. All new media form themselves out existing cultural practices. My project will investigate / in practice and in theory / the potential for the 'creative treatment of actuality' (John Grierson's definition of documentary) as a collaborative practice in the Web 2.0 environment. These are urgent issues for Documentary, New Media Studies and for the media industry and ones which I believe I am perfectly placed to address.