A 'Hybrid space' for peer review: Can facebook inspire new ways of thinking?

Peer review can be broadly categorised as either the individual-based review system used to review academic papers for publication or the group peer review system used, more usefully, in student reviews of their work. Web 2.0 technologies present an opportunity to consider a hybrid of these two modes of peer review. Using the rapid communication with, and 24/7 access to, a shared online environment it is possible to identify explore a form of hybrid space between the two orthodox modes of peer review. This paper describes an initial attempt to examine how student peer groups operate within the subject of art & design, and whether their use of social networking sites can apply in a wider academic context. By examining current models of web 2.0 categorised by having a self-selected user or member group, (Facebook for example) we have witnessed a form of peer review taking place. In this form of peer review, members appear to make almost entirely informal and qualitative judgments. We designed a space and observed students interacting with it in order to explore what we might productively learn from this form of peer review process and have explored how these models might provide an insight into a new model for peer review.