Web 2.0: Analyzing Knowledge and User Generated Content : How large commercial Web sites design user interaction to enable knowledge-based decision making

Abstract

I have studied how user generated content and interaction design work together on large commercial Web sites to enable users to acquire knowledge from large bodies of information, and to make informed decisions based on this knowledge. The study combines perspectives from media studies, human-computer interaction and knowledge management to understand the complexities of the modern Web.

Through a combination of exploration and analysis of Amazon, Booking.com and LinkedIn, I have seen how different kinds of information require different approaches to decision making, and how reputation management can help both creation and retrieval of high quality content.