Media Centric Knowledge Sharing on the Web 2.0

A Media Centric Knowledge Management Theory

Snow differentiates between two different trends in collaboration and learning within scientific communities (Snow 1959). First, the ‘linear type’ of learning that is goal-oriented and transmission-centered. This means, old information in scientific communities is being replaced by new one as soon as this appears. Second, there is a ‘non-linear type’ of learning. This type is media centric and reflects the nature of the ongoing discourse. It doesn’t replace old information but keeps it and might be applied in a different context later on. Here, information is not simply transmitted for learning, but it is presented based on the underlying theory in use. Our collaborative research center on “Media and Cultural Communication” (cf. http://www.fk-427.de) has given us a detailed insight into the importance of proper media support in knowledge sharing. The description and [loose] classification of medial artifacts is probably the most important part of the methodological perception process to make social software work. This means that a continuous perception of activities in communities of practice is necessary for them in order to gain new knowledge. The question therefore is: How to resemble working practices in communities of practice by means of social software?

A media-specific theory developed in the center helped us understand digital media support for discourses in the cultural sciences. It is based on the following three media operations (Jäger & Stanitzek 2002; Fohrmann & Schüttpelz 2004):