RSS = Information Overload?

Does the use of RSS/RSS aggregators mitigate or aggravate the problem of Information Overload in today's society?

My personal experience with RSS and RSS aggregators has mitigated my information overload problem. Sure, I do still grapple with info overload, as you'll have noticed from my recent posts, but less so than I would without RSS feeds and a Google Reader account. I was checking several Web sites and blogs every day when a colleague said, "why don't you just subscribe to all of those feeds in Google Reader and save yourself some time?" I love that I don't have to check Web sites every day now; if there's something new, I'll know.

I also like that RSS and RSS aggregators help sift through the news for me, which certainly helps prevent IO and saves me time. For example, I can just subscribe to a few select NY Times feeds, rather than going to the NY Times Web site and clicking through several pages to find what I am looking for.

On the other hand, an RSS feed from something like Delicious, let's say, that draws your attention to Web sites you might not have ever heard of otherwise based on tags of your choosing, might aggravate the problem of information overload. Suddenly you are looking at everything tagged library and Texas and it's possible that sifting through all of that does not produce enough useful results to really make it worth the time and energy to do so.

There's also the little fact that RSS itself has led to the production of several RSS management tools like those we've learned about in class (FeedBurner, FeedDigest, etc.). So, indeed, it has increased the information flow in that respect. It's like when you have to start writing a manual about the manual for a copy machine!

I think I'm going to reserve making an overall "aggravate or mitigate" statement when it comes to society at large. Certainly, in terms of bits and bytes, RSS has led to the creation of more information, but I think whether or not it mitigates or aggravates the problem of information overload will vary widely between users.

Some odds 'n' ends re: technology

First, an interesting realization I had this morning that is directly related to our recent study of RSS:

I read this passage in Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction by Paul Dourish (MIT, 2001)

Traditional textual interaction took place at teletype machines or serial terminals, where information appeared at the bottom of the screen and scrolled up to disappear off the top.

and only realized that it said information appeared at the bottom on the second reading. That makes sense, computer text read from top to bottom, just as a book does. However, I'm so used to having information fed to me through RSS feeds, that I'm used to the most recent information being at the top of the screen. On the first read-through my brain just processed that sentence in such a way that it made it seem that as an interaction progressed, information would disappear from the bottom of the screen.

Next, a link to my other blog:
Anyone Can Be a Blogger: Siftables

Google Reader vs. Bloglines

• I notice that Bloglines has a "notifier" option that allows you to choose among several means of notification that there are new posts for you to read. I poked around and I don't think Google Reader has any "notifier" function, much less several means to choose from (on Bloglines these include a Firefox add-on and a cell-phone notification).
• I notice that both have pre-selected recommended subscriptions to help you get started.
• Bloglines "clip blog," where you are able to post a clip from one of your feeds and comment on it caught my attention so I poked around a little on Google Reader and not only do they have the option of sharing posts with friends (though I think these friends must also be on Google) but they also allow you to post a clip to your blog. I'm going to start taking advantage of that!
• As with any Google product, I like the Google Reader links to all of my other Google tools.
• I was actually coming around to Bloglines and thinking to myself "wow, I might prefer something to a Google product" when I clicked on my SCILS folder and that automatically marked every post by every student as read. I couldn't figure out how to mark them as unread and once I clicked out of that screen I could not figure out how to go back and read old posts. That's easy to do with just one click on Google Reader. Now, I'm going to have to go to each student's blog individually to catch up on those posts and know that in the future I can click on just one feed at a time. Annoying.
  

Blogging Assignment 1: Library Blog Example

It just so happens that one of my favorite libraries, the Georgetown (TX) Public Library, also has one of my favorite library Web sites (look no further than the Peeps-guided library tour to find out why). You can visit the Georgetown library's online branch (terminology stolen from Farkas; I love it) at http://www.georgetowntex.org/ and what you might notice is that the front page is almost entirely populated with feeds from the library's various blogs. Or, better yet, you might not have noticed that at all because the blogs are so well integrated into the site. The fact that the blogs are all there embedded on the front page make the page really dynamic: it's updated all the time! It also makes it easy for people to find news in the area they are interested in: News, Library Happenings, Teen Space @ GPL, etc. Having blogs for different audiences and interests is the way to go; that way people don't get bogged down in information they don't want and start avoiding your site or missing out on info they do want or need.

More on Google Reader

This isn't one of the 23 things, but I thought fellow Google Reader users might appreciate this article: HOW TO: Use Google Reader Like a Rockstar.

Thing 9: Feed Me, Seymour

I was going to share my top three Google Reader feeds in this post, but it was just too hard to choose so few from so many! So, here are my ten favorite feeds (in no particular order). Check 'em out and enjoy!

1. Cute Overload Pictures and videos of animals doing what they do best: being adorable!
2. xkcd The subtitle says it all: "A Webcomic of Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language." A total must for geeks (like me).
3. The Superest "Who is the superest hero of them all?" Only time will tell...
4. Unshelved Do you work in a library? Enjoy webcomics? Check out the daily adventures of Dewey and the rest of the folks at Mallville Public Library. You'll be glad you did.
5. A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago I discovered this pop culture blog years ago when I saw a post on a message board that said Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes would be guest-live-blogging the National Spelling Bee there. At the time, I was a fan of the show and I've always been a fan of the Spelling Bee.
6. Smart B****es, Trashy Books The Smart B****es love romance novels and they aren't ashamed to say so, but they're also not afraid to bust out the snark when necessary. Love it.
7. 025.431: The Dewey Blog You thought my love of xkcd, spelling, and romance novels was geeky? This blog breaks down the construction of Dewey Decimal numbers. Yep, I was in the marching band, too.
8. A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette It's snarky, but I love it.
9. The Misadventures of Super Librarian Meet Wendy, librarian and romance reader. I want to be her when I grow up.
10. USA Today's Pop Candy Another Wendy! This one covers all things pop culture, even mustaches. Especially mustaches.

Thing 8: Real Simple

I already subscribe to 36 feeds on my Google Reader (22 of which are library or literature-related), so I wasn't sure I'd be able to find three more I'd be interested in. I should've known better...

First up: Dinosaur Comics

The near-daily adventures of T-Rex, Utahraptor, and Dromiceiomimus. The dialog changes, but the pictures remain the same. And it's always hilarious. I have no idea why this wasn't already in the feed...

Next: Life Tips Vegetarian Tip of the Day

Last: The Huffington Post and Tree Hugger, both recommended on that Time magazine list of blogs.

I told you I should've known it wouldn't be a problem to find three.

I don't have much to say about the last three since I've just subscribed to them, but they seem interesting. We'll see how long they last!