All of us in the office have hopped on the bandwagon and are now using Twitter, a social networking service where you publish micro pieces of information up to 140 words long. What does this look like? Well, look at my Twitter page for an example.
Lately I've been thinking about the implication of the type of information Twitter provides—what I have been referring to (at least in my own head) as microknowledge.
Essentially what Twitter is...is microknowledge. How much context can be added in 140 words? Not much. Like so much out there in our lives today, we are all losing our patience. We want it faster, briefer. But if we get it faster and briefer, what do we lose in the process?
In the bigger picture of things, I say we may be losing our ability to analyze, draw conclusions, and think about things deeply and meaningfully.
This is not to say I think microknowledge has no value. It absolutely does. And I've come across some really interesting things thanks to it.
I just wonder the implications microknowledge has in the scheme of our intelligence and its effect on our ability to most effectively find our personal reality and truth as human beings. Without context, can ever have meaning?
Truth be told, we are all are experiencing major info bloat! And not much of the info is relevant.
I'd like your input. How do you think microknowledge has affected you and how you learn and process information? My take: There is a big difference between intelligent and intelligence.
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Great points. And this, in my opinion, is what makes the Twitter API so incredibly interesting. Because that's where the synthesizing is going to occur. With people building tools on top of the data flow that help make those important connections.
Very valid questions. I don't look at any of it too closely, myself - just let it wash over me as ambient info. Has worked well for me so far. Have fun on Twitter! See ya there!
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