Increasing User Literacy

There are many practical reasons for the professionalization of people and the tasks they do. An obvious example of this need: we don’t want people who aren’t trained Doctors, treating us for our illnesses. But in this weeks readings both Howard and Shirky address the problem of professionalizing information, and the negative effects it can have on creativity. I think one of the key points Shirky makes is the problem that arises when one’s “professional self-definition” turns into “self-delusion” (Shirky 57). So there is a point when this can go too far, and it stems from the fact that these “professionals become gatekeepers” who enforce norms not because of pressure from customers “but by other professionals in the same business” (Shirky 57). This of course, neglects the user experience, and the dialogue between designer and user, that is so essential to Kolko’s concept of Interaction Design. So there appears to be a crucial tipping point. Once these information technologies have positive results for certain professionals, the members of these institutions tend to, “equate provisional solutions to particular problems with deep truths about the world” (Shirky 59). So the trick is recognizing when this occurs: at what point is there more emphasis on securing professional identity, then on the implementation of innovative ways of solving problems?

That said, innovation isn’t always what it seems to be either, and these authors also provide a necessary limit to the possibilities of new information technologies. Howard warns of a possible “social network apocalypse” in “2015,” in order to make a point that we might be overinvesting in “hopeful predictions about the impact these technologies will have on the future” (Howard 207). Shirky notes that “broadcast media was between one sender and many recipients, and the recipients couldn’t talk back” but now the web allows a “many-to-many” (Shirky 87). But he also is mindful that this does not appear to have solved major communications problems.  While the Internet makes interactive technology possible, there are still limiting factors that reduce the Internet to revolving around those who are “famous” (Shirky 91). This can be seen in a very simple way: a person cannot read everybody else’s blog who connects to their blog. Howard also realizes these limitations: “the time needed to give attention to anything is a fundamental condition of reality. You can’t make more time, and we humans only have so much attention” (Howard 221). If we are all “famous” and nobody is reading what others are writing, then “scale alone will kill conversation” (Shirky 95).

Because of this, Howard finds that, “what online communities of the future have to sell is the promise that they will enhance the literacies of their membership—the promise that they’ll provide their members with the disciplining necessary to be successful” (Howard 223). It is this notion of ‘enhancing literacies’ that I will try to focus on when it comes to the Social Media Analysis Project we will be doing for the library. Thus far I have found it really difficult to see how a library’s Twitter account will be anything but clutter and white-noise for a busy student body. My previous assumption about Twitter (aside from the fact that young people aren’t using it) was that its purpose was to attract people to people, places, and things; to generate buzz. The library is already a packed house, literally, therefore there is no need to generate buzz. It would be like Tweeting to get people to come a concert they are already at: it would be a momentary distraction that would prevent them from enjoying the show.

But I can start to see the role social media might play in the library, if it is focused on trying to enhance the literacy of its users: if the social media is there to inform, if the students want it, not something that will constantly be bombarding them with updates. With this in mind, I agree with Howard that, “Communities and networks of the future will need to market themselves based on their ability to help members make more creative and better-informed decisions rather than the size of their user base” (Howard 200). The user base of the library is already very large, and I don’t think social media should try to attempt to convert all of them to that particular platform, but it should enhance the experience they are already having.