Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
being part of groups, whether they are social or occupational. Personal
perception of what is needed technologically will drive knowledge workers in
the new millennium to embrace Web portfolios. Eventually, everyone who is
“in” will have one. Without one, it will be difficult to secure work for hire and
therefore one may be cut off from the opportunities that the information society
deems as most attractive.
The Web Portfolio as Personal,
On-Demand, Mass Media and
Advertising
Media makes portrays life as more difficult without having the “technological
norms” of your culture and environment. Media shapes perception by creating
an environment that presents advertising as a primary news gathering process.
As McLuhan (1964, p.227) states, “Ads pushed the principle of noise all the
way to the plateau of persuasion. They are quite in accord with the procedures
of brainwashing”. McLuhan also extends that “ads are news”, especially in the
electronic age. I feel the Web portfolio is considered an ad or advertisement.
It is an ad for someone or an organization. The Web portfolio fits McLuhan's
theory that advertisements are news in several aspects. The goal of the Web
portfolio is to persuade the user to act favorably, as with ads. The Web
portfolio creates an ongoing narrative that provides news of accomplishment
and presents a story of perceived importance merely for the fact that it is being
delivered in the Web portfolio, as the “user”/reader of a magazine might
believe. The Web portfolio is dynamic, such as news. And as with news and the
Web portfolio, content becomes the true selling vehicle.
The Web portfolio also puts our identity and our public appearance in the social
and cyber world at risk. The risk is exposure that is not favorable or that inflates
truths about capabilities, history, and accomplishments. Any vehicle of cred-
ibility can work conversely to discredit the author. The extent of truth to the
personal narrative presented in a Web portfolio is dependent on the morality
and perceptions of the creator, as is in the case of any communication whether
it is a resume or a corporate financial report. The truth lies in the personal moral
compliance of the individual(s) whom created the communication. The Web
portfolio will open people up to intrusion, but at the same time will generate
opportunity. This is the pattern seen with all emerging technology.
