Gleick’s (1999) article, though over a decade old, still
offers a lot of food for thought. He argued that while speed and connectivity
tend to make people feel more efficient, it also makes them busier and
overloaded with information. In one passage Gleick compared (networked)
communication to an uncongested freeway. The delays that took place between
communication in the past, before fax machines and email, more resembled the
delays of freeway travel, with red lights and traffic congestion. These delays,
he suggested, served as “pauses for thought”. This sentiment is somewhat
further elaborated in Gallagher’s (2009) article about living a “focused life”.
The accessibility of information is generally meant to help keep us better informed,
but in practical terms I’m not sure this happens as often as we think. Gleick
mentioned that a lot of websites are so cluttered with information that things
like articles, photos, text, and videos are constantly competing for our
attention. Many people, he found, do not actually read what is on the internet,
but only scan the website or skim for keywords. Networked communication in this
respect is offering us loads of information, but we’re not always digging in
depth. Damien referenced pancake people in class a few weeks ago to describe
individuals who have a shallow understanding about a wide range of topics. It
made me wonder if it is because we are too busy to invest the time into fully
understanding a topic, or if networked communication has contributed to
shortening our attention spans. For example, here is an article from CNN.com. The
article is only 16 sentences long. But apparently even that is too much to
expect someone to read in its entirety, so they have included “Story
Highlights” in the margin.
I predict that in the future even the “highlights” will have
highlights of their own. For the informed citizen who only has time to read
three words, this article would be something like:
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STORY
HIGHLIGHTS
Clocks.
Forward.
Sunday.
It doesn't always sink in though. I still woke up an hour late this morning.
Gleick, J. (1999). Faster:
The Acceleration of Just About Everything. New York: Random House.
I just spent this past weekend without my cell phone. At the beginning it was so hard because I had the feeling that I was missing something, like reading all the news and keeping updated with some information but then after 2 days I realized that not having cell phone feels really good. I didn't even want to check it at the end. I suppose this happened because I realized how much productive I was and how more focused I was on other activities that really matter most. Therefore, I think accessibility of information can be not that helpful sometimes.
ReplyDeleteBrent - I think you make some great points about highlights even getting shorter. As much of a joke as it seems, you're right. Twitter puts a cap on our status updates and people are finding increasing unique ways to maximize 140 characters. Also, tumblr is growing as a shortened version of a blog. I'm guilty of "scanning" a story or headlines along with millions of other but think this pancake effect that we spoke about in class could come back to hurt us one day where no one wants to put the time in to learn the background and details of topics which really provides a better understanding overall.
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