Just Seven Things

The Power of Social Recommendation II

Following from yesterday’s post on the power of social recommendation, I’ve been doing some more reading and thinking.

A concern that has been discussed for a while surrounds the impact of new media on the breadth of users’ knowledge. If the ‘pick and mix’ nature of information flow inputs are so controlled by the individual, then how are their currently held views being challenged (holds the argument)

The idea that RSS feeds, bespoke home pages and numerous other ways of tailoring information inputs is any different than not reading certain papers or magazines; to not watching certain TV programmes or buying certain DVDs is a challenging one….

Following yesterday’s post, I thought about this when I read in Taleb’s Fooled By Randomness about his views that the information age is homogenising our taste (with regard to people patronising what other people like to do) and that the winners of customers are now winning big as people follow other people

It got me thinking about the difference between our private and public personas, how they are managed (see Scott OBrien’s post on branding yourself to see the depth of this subject, and whether there are any patterns.

Do we strive to individuality in the shorter-term/ on the surface whilst having a deep anchor in social following and acceptance in the longer-term? Studies have been done which evidence increased levels of happiness in people who live with others rather than alone. Does the very nature of social recommendation mean that people start in a similar place (shared passion) and broaden their experiences by exploring the other online flagged interests of the other parties.