Newsfeeds: watch your diet

Dr. Burton mentioned a conversation he saw on the internet about the validity of Twitter as a communication medium. One man railed against twitter, saying that in 140 characters it wasn't possible to communicate much more than junk. Dr. Burton observed that feeds from services like Twitter, Facebook, +Google, etc. are subjective. They output material based on the qualities of the network you have built on the service. Possibly that man's Twitter feed was good for nothing but junk, but get the right network and that same feed can become a vibrant watering trough where people share big ideas, links to current event coverage, and other positive things.

There is a communication theory (there's one about everything, isn't there?) which argues that the personalization of media consumption actually leads to a less informed public. They see only what they want to see (or what they have planned to see) and nothing else gets into their media window. It becomes a closed loop. 

Is that the case? I think that pattern is already firmly entrenched in some circles (using television and radio alone) and agree that the possibility is there for the problem to become more widespread because the Internet makes it so easy and fun.

I've wondered about how people will use the Internet in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. Remember "homepages" like msn.com or yahoo.com that were designed to give you a friendly greeting and update on current events and interesting articles each time you reported to the Internet for the day? (Kind of like a stack of memos from your secretary when you come to work) (as if I have a secretary...) Does anyone under 30 use those anymore? Our Facebook feeds are now a news source (both for current events and the lives of our friends) and they point us to interesting things on the Internet. Perhaps this connection is only obvious. The point is, mind what you sow for your feed, because you will reap accordingly. 

Perhaps feeds are only necessary reactions to the enormity of new information that the Internet continually spews forth. They are inevitable then, and that's okay.