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Email Addiction. Side-effects: Stupidity.

Way back in aught 08 (September 2008), I wrote about the building evidence for Internet addiction. The March 2010 Entrepreneur brings us an article by Joe Robinson  (“Email is Making You Stupid“) which explores several aspects of technological addictions – including the harmful side-effects. This article suggests that the burgeoning amount of emails, instant messages, tweets, [...]

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Asides

• Contrary to the expectations of many (myself included), a recent study suggests that individuals might express a more authentic personality/self through social media (e.g. Facebook) than in person. Read Sarah Perez's description of the study and its implications here. #
• Michael Krigsman describes how to measure influence on Twitter in "Social networking: Influence, follows, and 'nexus leaders.'" #
• Does Google Make Us Stupid? Originally put forth by Nicholas Carr in the July/August 2008 issue of The Atlantic, this idea received a rebuttal one year later by Jamais Casico ("Get Smarter") in that same publication. The next chapter in this debate is being written by experts responding to the Pew Research Center ("Does Google Make Us Stupid?") - and the answer seems to be a resounding, "No." 76% of respondents (internet experts) agreed that, "By 2020, people's use of the internet has enhanced human intelligence; as people are allowed unprecedented access to more information they become smarter and make better choices. Nicholas Carr was wrong: Google does not make us stupid." Curiously, Janna Quitney Anderson and Lee Rainie, who authored the description of the survey, seemed to assume that just because experts suppose so, it will be true. To my eyes, Nicholas Carr isn't wrong - yet. Only time will tell. #
• "80 to 90% of user-generated content on the web, including comments and questions, is created by less than 10% of web users," according to Rubicon, a strategy and marketing consultancy [1]. The findings included in their most recent report must seem a breath of fresh air to  Jack Nielson, who predicted somewhat similar numbers two years ago [Link]. Together, these two models challenge the notion that material found online hardly represents society's true sentiment, rather than just the views of a small number of energetic enthusiasts. #
• In the way of an update on my earlier posts regarding businesses using social networking tools, I wanted to direct readers to an article by Dion Hinchcliffe, who does a great job of covering the various platforms for creating online communities. Read "Ten leading platforms for creating online communities." #