The New Information Ecology

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

"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)
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations DSL TV Satellite radio player
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“ Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage/servers
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from express delivery pager satellite player cell phone memory
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs
Advertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable box
Radio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console
game console paper
Satellite 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)
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations DSL TV Satellite radio player
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“ Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage/servers
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from express delivery pager satellite player cell phone memory
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs
Advertising newspaper delivery non-electronic cable box
Radio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console
game console paper
Satellite radio e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks e-reader/Kindle
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co … and this all affects social networks 1) their composition 2) the way people use them 3) their importance 4) the way librarians can play a part in them

Behold the idea of networked individualism Barry 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

… and people have more options for their passions -- Markus Prior and Cass Sunstein

People-Press news consumer typology

The internet rises in a fragmented media environment (% of all Americans who “regularly” go to news source: PRC People/Press) +1,850% -25% -52% +18% -41% -27%

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)

Kaiser Family Foundation, Media Multitasking Among American Youth, December 2006

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 Jenkins
David 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 blog
36% 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 Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Email: [email_address]
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie
202-419-4500

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The New Information Ecology

by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project on Nov 18, 2009

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