More Reflection from Week 2.5

Thank you for the feedback; there are positive days and not-so-positive ones with technology! Having read many of my classmates blogs in the last week and a half, I feel a need to discuss some of my philosophy on how I interact with technology. Also, I would like to provide some 'pointers' about Twitter since the usefulness seems to be in question. Please see my classmates blogs (blogs I am following, on the right hand side) for a broad perspective on our discussions.

I have found with the help of Twitter that I do not have to do so much "saving" of information. I believe this is the point of moving into the Web 2.0 philosophy. You can easily get into information overload when you try to keep up with, and analyze all the information out there. Traditionally I was taught that important information is well, important, and you should keep it, memorize it, etc. because you worked hard to find the information.

Today this is not so much the case. While many believe in the sacredness of important relevant information, and I do as well, one needs to appreciate how information is now acquired. Think of all those college textbooks that were "so important," how often do you open them today? Yes, they are good resources, and clutch in one moment during a school year. But, is that book a good use of space in your room? Did you know you can access that textbook online now, search for a keyword, and find the same paragraph in the amount of time it takes you to dig the textbook out of the shelf on the wall?

I am traditional and like reading paper and ink. I still bought the book for this class; but it is not efficient and is certainly not the way of the future. Why do I like reading paper and ink? I was schooled in the importance of those things. I am slowly changing my belief in the importance of paper/ink reading, however I am not comfortable. I believe that if I hope to be successful in the future, I must learn how to read using only digital sources. I know this is important because family members have been informed by their government jobs that they will no longer have the option of receiving paper copies of training manuals. Everything is "ebook". If the mainstream media continues to push universities, publishing companies, and others I believe college will be completely different from how we witnessed educational studies.

Twitter is one fairly easy medium to witness this change in culture. Traditional paper/ink people cannot comprehend information can accurately be passed with only 140 characters. Surely a well written sentence cannot be so short! Digital natives pride themselves on being short and to-the-point. This philosophy has been around for a decade already! Think text messaging; the word choice, spelling, punctuation, run-ons, and speed at which dialogue occurs. I know because I was one of the cool kids who had a cell phone like that, back in the day. Can you tell by my lack of eloquence? Twitter is simply the new platform for providing the communication of society.

Many of my teacher peers are struggling with the amount of time needed to invest in just platforms to make it useful. I argue that the old mantra "you get what you put into it" still applies with technology. Balance time invested with all the different technology tools. Twitter, the fad today, will be wildly different in a few months. We have already seen a change in some of their page formatting, and like any other social tool will adapt to the requests of the public.

Remember that the best way to know something is to actually do it! Get into the practice of multi-tagging. It is like multi-tasking on the web. You should get on the computer at least once a day and open multiple windows/tabs on your internet browser. Simultaneously update yourself on all of your avenues of communication: email, web feeds, and other webpages as needed. This should take you about 15 minutes maximum. If you cannot get this done in fifteen minutes you either need to get on more often or reduce the venues of communication. Of course I must note, having a slow connection/software is not grounds for the fifteen minute rule. After the first fifteen minutes of skimming your venues, you now go back prioritizing what you need to look at, read, save, or interact with.

Another difference in generations is the priority that is placed in completing the above tasks. My younger sister, a college freshman, multi-tags at least twenty times a day. My father, a self-employed construction manager, multi-tags at least eight times a day. My generation X nature puts me somewhere in the middle, multi-tagging between 10 and 15 times a day. This does not mean I am surfing the web; I am simply updating my means of digital communication. This is one of the first areas you can make an effort to improve on. By changing the amount of interaction with technology, you will become more efficient, more diverse, and more positive about your interactions.

Remember that technology is always changing. Do not invest too much time into one web tool. There is always more information available then you can go through. This should be positive reassurance that you now have access to anything you might need. You have seen the commercials for iPhone Apps (applications) where there is a way to find all the information you might ever need, or not need for that matter. Stick you maintaining your communication with the world via networks of web feeds, software, shareware, and anything else relevant to your profession. If you maintain communication you are always "linked" to specifics you might have a need for in the future. Just like traditional good friends, when you need something they will use their networks to help you!