Information used to be highly prized, but with the advent of networking sites and social media, information value has decreased to almost zero. Information is now a commodity, easy accessible and at different qualities. Most people will go for cheap and cheerful, or even ‘free’ if it is available.
We now have forager mentality, where people casually seek information from many sources, and use comparative sources to assess the value of the gleaned information. Some use sophisticated software to validate and authenticate the source of the information, but this is rare and usually inside the domain of the organisation.
Does this mean that information has less value?
The inevitable answer is - Yes.
Just in any scenario of supply and demand – the more available a product is, the less value it has to the consumer. Perhaps information sources should take a look at the diamond market model – however, because of the relatively few diamond producers, diamonds can be kept at premium prices.
However, due to a proliferation of information disseminators, there is unlikely to be a consensus agreement. One supplier will always break the cartel, even if it is Uncle George writing his blog in his garage.
Whether to enter the fray is always an issue – so many ‘networking’ sites and ways to communicate now, how do you choose?
One curious turn of events that appears to be coming out of this is the value of ‘following’, a known and valued commenter, who adds Insightful and relevant comments to blogs and other sources, might be thought of as more relevant than the initial blog item poster.
Free e-books now proliferate the market, from great minds and novelists. I wonder what will happen as information keeps being reduced in value.
(See: "The latest craze: Free e-books offerings" http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090807/ap_on_hi_te/us_free_e_books )
One free book that is worth reading as it is an expose of the IT industry written as a novel: http://www.martinbutlerresearch.com/
So, in summary.
Is the information we issue irrelevant, simply because as even 'history' changes at such a fast pace, we cannot keep up, or that one opinion is rapidly superimposed by others ?
If this is indeed the case, and there are issues of task switching and attention deficit here also, where do we go from here?
DEBS TALKS ABOUT.... Virtual Worlds and Social Media
