About Social Software
With the development of Web 2.0 tools, the Internet became a platform where content, rather than being transmitted and consumed, is created, shared and processed (Downes, 2005). This (r)evolution brought deep changes in the way individuals learn, share, communicate with each other and construct their own knowledge (Downes, 2005; Siemens, 2008; Greenhow et al, 2009).
By fostering the establishment of connections between individuals, the new participatory Web emphasizes the users contribution in creating and organizing information, an approach visible in the exchange of ideas, learning with and through peers and in the collaborative creation of new knowledge (Chatti et al, 2007).
In a context where social software tools reshape the traditional model of knowledge creation and transmission, the Web provides a space that allows learning and online presence to arch over many spaces, no longer limited and defined by institutions (Warburton, 2008; Santos, 2009).
The Web can then be seen as both a setting and a support for both formal and informal learning. Learners take responsibility for their own learning and information and knowledge appear as personal and distributed processes created trough social interaction (Tredinnick, 2006).