SURVIVING IN THE NEW
INFORMATION ECOLOGY
How libraries can be nodes in people’s
social networks
Lee Rainie
Director – Pew Internet Project
Long Island Library Resources Council
10.30.09

1996 Benton Foundation report:
“Buildings, books, and bytes”
"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.
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 2

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.”
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 3

New information ecosystem: Then and Now
Industrial Age Information Age
Info was: Info is:
Scarce Abundant
Expensive Cheap
Institutionally Personally
oriented oriented
Designed for Designed for
consumption participation
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 4

The internet is the asteroid: Then and now
2000 2009
46% of adults use internet 77-79% of adults use internet
5% with broadband at home 63% with broadband at home
50% own a cell phone 85% own a cell phone
0% connect to internet 54-56% connect to internet
wirelessly wirelessly
<10% use “cloud” >two-thirds use “cloud”
= slow, stationary = fast, mobile connections
connections built around my built around outside servers
computer and storage
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 5

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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 6

37% of adults own DVRs –
Media ecology – now (information age) 2002
up from 3% in
47% of Route to homeown laptops – Local storage
Product adults Display
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations up from 30% in 2006
DSL TV Satellite radio player
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content
Cable Nets
37% of adults own game consoles
books
broadcast radio
iPod /MP3
stereo
server/ TiVo (PVR)
PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage/servers
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
18% of adults own
Content from
individuals
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
personal gaming devices
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 45% of adults own MP3 players – e-reader / Kindle storage sticks/disks
e-reader/Kindle
up from 11% in 2005
Adapted from Tom Wolzien, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 7

Media ecology – now (information age)
Product Route to home Display Local storage
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
Web sites satellite
Ubiquitous computing age
broadcast radio stereo
monitor
PC
web storage/servers
Local news
Content from
mail
Cloud computing
express delivery pager
headphones
satellite player
CD/CD-ROM
cell phone memory
individuals “Internet of things”
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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 8

Media ecology – now (information age)
Product Route to home Display Local storage
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations DSL TV Satellite radio player
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“Daily me” … and this all affects social networks
broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content books iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets 1) their composition
broadcast radio stereo PC
2) the way people use them
Web sites satellite monitor web storage/servers
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from
individuals 3) their importance
express delivery pager
iPod / storage
satellite player
portable gamer
cell phone memory
MP3 player / iPod
Advertising
4) the way librarians can play a part in them
Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI
newspaper delivery
cell phone
non-electronic
pagers - PDAs
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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 9

Behold the idea of networked individualism
Barry Wellman – University of Toronto
The turn from
groups to social
networks = a
new social
operating
system
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 10

Big societal forces pushing us toward
networked individualism
• Affluence and affordable technology
• Expanding consumer options
• Income and wealth volatility
• Job security and longevity
• 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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 11

Why good social networks (and social
networking) matter
• Healthier
• Wealthier
• Happier
• More civically engaged = better
communities
-----------------------------
• Diversity makes a difference
• Size of network makes a difference
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 12

10 ways digital technology
has changed things for your
patrons and their networking
behavior
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 13

Network ecosystem change – 1
Volume of
information
grows
-- Chris Anderson
Hal Varian

Network ecosystem change – 2
Variety of
information
and sources
of information
grow

Network ecosystem change – 3
Velocity of
information
increases and
smart mobs
emerge
-- Howard Rheingold
Clay Shirky

Network ecosystem change – 4
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

Network ecosystem change – 5
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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 20

Kaiser Family Foundation, Media Multitasking Among American Youth, December 2006
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 21

Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and 1) Virtual Worlds
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project

Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and 2) Mirror Worlds
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project

Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and 3) Augmented Reality
immersive
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 24

Network ecosystem change – 6
The vibrance and 4) Life-logging
immersive -- Gordon Bell
qualities of
media
environments
makes them
more compelling
places to hang
out and interact
-- Metaverse Roadmap
Project
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 25

Network ecosystem change – 7
Valence (relevance)
of information
improves – search
and customization
get better as we
create the “Daily
Me” and “Daily Us”
– Nicholas Negroponte
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 26

Network ecosystem change – 8
The voice of
information
democratizes
and the
visibility of new
creators is
enhanced.
Identity and
privacy change.
-- William Dutton
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 27

Network ecosystem change – 9
Voting on and
ventilating about
information
proliferates as
tagging, rating,
and commenting
occurs and
collective
intelligence
asserts itself
-- Henry Jenkins
David Weinberger
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 28

Information sharing and evaluation
31% of adult internet
users have rated a
person, product,
or service online
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 29

Network ecosystem change – 10
Social networks
become more vivid
and meaningful.
Media-making is
part of social
networking.
“Networked
individualism” takes
hold.
-- Barry Wellman
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 30

Content creation
>68% of online
teens have
created their own
profile on a social
network site
----
47% of online adults
have such profiles
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 31

Content creation
33% of college
students keep
blogs and
regularly post
54% read blogs
----
11% of online adults
have a blog
36% read them
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 32

Content creation
15% of online adults
say they remix
content they find
online into their
own artistic
creations
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 33

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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 34

Technology has helped people change their
networks
• Bigger
• Looser
• More segmented
• More layered
=
• More liberated
• More work
• More important as sources of support and
information, filters, curators, audience
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 35

A new pattern of communication and influence built
around social networks and participatory media
The four-step flow of information
• attention
• acquisition
• assessment
• action
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 36

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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 37

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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 38

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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 39

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
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 40

Thank you!
Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Email: Lrainie@pewinternet.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie
202-419-4500
Surviving in the new info ecology October 30, 2009 41