There is a new site out that allows users to annotate the web. Reframe It, provides users with the ability to highlight passages on webpages and add your thoughts on the side. This gives Internet browsers more control over the content they are reading because they can share their opinion with others and go back and search what they have commented on. You have to download the plug in for the site, but once you do, you can read other people’s comments and also import your contacts from Gmail, facebook and other social network sites.
This is a really interesting new concept, though not unexpected. Now, not only do you have regular user generated content, but credible, edited, carefully worked on texts can also have user generated components.
I think that this is a very interesting concept. The idea that users can leave annotations on Web sites is very interesting. I do think that the flaw in this design is the same flaw that one risks when buying a used book from a school bookstore: that is how well did the annotator annotate? How well did he/she “highlight” the passage? How credible can we really expect these annotations to be?