Thanks for your comment and sorry for the slight delay replying to you, holidays and all. Anyhow, I had the chance to check out Cramster.com and it seems that your community is heading in a much better direction than other “solutions” available for students. My critique of it is that there isn’t really much offered for Free on the site, and that th majority of the assistance students need require money that, well, in this economy is an issue that could cause issues for many students — and/or their parents who may be “footing” the bill (premium v. free member break down — http://www.cramster.com/sign-up/barrier-select.aspx )

As for the leveling effect of communities I described, cramster is a step ahead of the rest in accounting for this in the online environment.

Thanks again. I post about 2 times per week and between me and the other contributors, we will be addressing a lot of contemporary issues. Since we are all educators at some level of learning or another, hopefully our posts will assist those involved in these sorts of endeavors.

In regards to the “cost of Web 2.0,” I’d argue that this cost varies based on the sitein question and what that site’s primary objectives are. For instance, Facebook’s primary objective will never be anything too far beyond the “social” in social networking, regardless of how many value-adding applications or concepts are introduced.

On the other hand, there are several Web 2.0 communities that aim to eliminate much of the de-expertization that you reference. In fact, this is the primary way that some communities build themselves – by encouraging members to rate each other and, therefore, naturally allowing more knowledable and worthwhile members to be recognized.

I’d love to get your take on the site I work for, Cramster.com – an online study community that definitely fits into the discussion you’ve proposed here.

Cheers,

Peter Simones,
http://www.Cramster.com