THE NEW INFORMATION ECOLOGY Lee Rainie Director – Pew Internet Project Colorado Library Association Denver 11.20.09

THE NEW INFORMATION ECOLOGY

Lee RainieDirector – Pew Internet ProjectColorado Library AssociationDenver11.20.09

New information ecology November 20, 2009 2

"If you plopped a library down. . .30 years from now. . .there would be

cobwebs growing everywhere because people would look at it and wouldn't think of it as a legitimate institution

because it would be so far behind. . ."-- Experienced library user.

1996 Benton Foundation report: “Buildings, books, and bytes”


“Many Americans would just as soon turn their local libraries

into museums and recruit retirees to staff them.”

1996 Benton Foundation report: “Buildings, books, and bytes”


New information ecosystem: Then and Now

Industrial Age

Info was:

Scarce

Expensive

Institutionally oriented

Designed for consumption

Information Age

Info is:

Abundant

Cheap

Personally oriented

Designed for participation


2000

46% of adults use internet

5% with broadband at home

50% own a cell phone

0% connect to internet wirelessly

<10% use “cloud”

= slow, stationary connections built around my

computer

The internet is the asteroid: Then and now

2009

77-79% of adults use internet

63% with broadband at home

85% own a cell phone

54-56% connect to internet wirelessly

>two-thirds use “cloud”

= fast, mobile connections built around outside servers

and storage


Media ecology – then (industrial age)Product Route to home Display Local storage

TV stations phone TV Cassette/ 8-track

broadcast TV radio

broadcast radio stereo Vinyl album

News mail

Advertising newspaper delivery phone

paper

Radio Stations non-electronic

Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co


Media ecology – now (information age)Product Route to home Display Local storage

cable TiVo (PVR) VCRTV stations DSL TV Satellite radio playerInfo wireless/phone radio DVD“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PCWeb sites satellite monitor web storage/serversLocal news mail headphones CD/CD-ROMContent from express delivery pager satellite player cell phone memory individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPodPeer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAsAdvertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable boxRadio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console

game console paperSatellite radio e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks

e-reader/Kindle

Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

47% of adults own laptops – up from 30% in 2006

37% of adults own DVRs – up from 3% in 2002

18% of adults own personal gaming devices

37% of adults own game consoles

45% of adults own MP3 players – up from 11% in 2005


Media ecology – now (information age)Product Route to home Display Local storage

cable TiVo (PVR) VCRTV stations DSL TV Satellite radio playerInfo wireless/phone radio DVD“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PCWeb sites satellite monitor web storage/serversLocal news mail headphones CD/CD-ROMContent from express delivery pager satellite player cell phone memory individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPodPeer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAsAdvertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable boxRadio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console

game console paperSatellite radio e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks

e-reader/Kindle

Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co

… and this all affects social networks1) their composition

2) the way people use them3) their importance

4) the way librarians can play a part in them


Behold the idea of networked individualismBarry Wellman – University of Toronto

The turn from groups to social networks = a new social operating system


Big societal forces pushing us toward networked individualism

• Affluence and affordable technology• Expanding consumer options• Income, wealth, job volatility• Rise of free agency and freelancing• Changes in family composition, roles,

responsibilities• Trends towards management of

retirement and health care• Rise of DIY politics and religion


Why good social networks (and social networking) matter

• Healthier

• Wealthier

• Happier

• More civically engaged = better communities

10 ways digital technology has changed things for your patrons and their networking

behavior

Network ecosystem change – 1

Volume of information grows

-- Chris Anderson

Hal Varian


Variety of information and sources of information grow


Velocity of information increases and smart mobs emerge

-- Howard Rheingold

Clay Shirky


Venues of intersecting with information and people multiply and the availability of information expands to all hours of the day and all places we are

-- Nielsen Company


People’s vigilance for information changes in two directions:

1) attention is truncated (Linda Stone)

2) attention is elongated (Andrew Keen; Terry Fisher)


The vibrance and immersive qualities of media environments makes them more compelling places to hang out and interact

-- Metaverse Roadmap Project

1) Virtual Worlds




2) Mirror Worlds




3) Augmented Reality




4) Life-logging-- Gordon Bell


Valence (relevance) of information improves – search and customization get better as we create the “Daily Me” and “Daily Us” – Nicholas Negroponte


The voice of information democratizes and the visibility of new creators is enhanced. Identity and privacy change.

-- William Dutton


Voting on and ventilating about information proliferates as tagging, rating, and commenting occurs and collective intelligence asserts itself

-- Henry JenkinsDavid Weinberger

31% of adult internet users have rated a person, product, or service online

Information sharing and evaluation


Social networks become more vivid and meaningful. Media-making is part of social networking. “Networked individualism” takes hold.

-- Barry Wellman

>68% of online teens have created their own profile on a social network site

----

47% of online adults have such profiles

Content creation

33% of college students keep blogs and regularly post

54% read blogs----11% of online adults

have a blog36% read them

Content creation

Content creation

15% of online adults say they remix content they find online into their own artistic creations


Networked Individuals … have a different …

• Sense of information availability – it’s ambient

• Sense of time – it’s oriented around “continuous partial attention”

• Sense of community and connection – it’s about “absent presence”

• Sense of the rewards and challenges of networking for social, economic, political, and cultural purposes – new layers and new audiences


Technology has helped people change their networks

• Bigger

• Looser

• More segmented

• More layered

• Facilitate greater freedom

• Require more work

• More important as sources of support, filters, curators, audience


The ways libraries can become nodes in

people’s social networks


8 tips on how to be a node in a social network

• Think like a friend

• Remember your strengths and play to them by being an expert, a filter, and a recommender (linker)

• Be aware that your audience is bigger than the available evidence provides – lurkers and future arrivals are part of the mix

• Look for opportunities to provide support to users and chances to build communities with your material


8 tips on how to be a node in a social network

• Help people cope with technology

• Participate in the Web 2.0 world

• Embrace the move towards mobility, constant connectivity, perpetual contact

– This changes the realities of time and space and presence

• Ask for help/feedback


A new pattern of communication and influence built around social networks and participatory media

The four-step flow of information

• attention

• acquisition

• assessment

• action


How do you….

• get his/her attention?

– leverage your traditional services

– offer alerts, updates, feeds

– be available in relevant places

– find pathways through his/her social network


How do you….

• help him/her acquire information?– be findable in a “long tail” world– pursue new distribution methods– offer “link love” for selfish

reasons– participate in the conversation

about your work


How do you….

• help him/her assess information?

– be transparent, link-friendly, and archive everything

– aggregate the best related work

– when you make mistakes, seek forgiveness


How do you….

• assist him/her act on information?

– offer opportunities for feedback

– offer opportunities for remixing

– offer opportunities for community building

– be open to the wisdom of crowds


Thank you!

Lee RainieDirectorPew Internet & American Life Project1615 L Street NWSuite 700Washington, DC 20036

Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/lrainie 202-419-4500

Documents

THE NEW INFORMATION ECOLOGY Lee Rainie Director – Pew Internet Project Colorado Library Association Denver 11.20.09