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.

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.

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!