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The social life of information

The social life of information. I203 Social and Organizational Issues of Information. A few highlights from “How Much Information 2003”. Print, film, magnetic, optical storage media: 5 exabytes of new info in 2002. 92% of new info stored on magnetic media.

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The social life of information

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  1. The social life of information I203 Social and Organizational Issues of Information

  2. A few highlights from “How Much Information 2003” • Print, film, magnetic, optical storage media: 5 exabytes of new info in 2002. • 92% of new info stored on magnetic media. • Info flows through electronic channels (telephone, radio, etc) = 18 exabytes of new info in 2002; 98% of that from telephone alone. • Among P2P file sharing systems, only 7% actually share digital information goods. • Internet is fastest growing new medium of all time. • About 31 billion emails sent daily (2002).

  3. The Social “Periphery” • The social periphery are the communities, organizations and institutions that frame human activities. • Often seen as targets, not resources for design of information systems. • For example, “news” is not objective information from a source that is merely contaminated or framed from the people (i.e., journalists) who report it; “news” is the process from which information is interpreted and expressed to an audience.

  4. Information Solutions and Burdens • “Endism” in the information age • What exactly is “ending”, and why is that such a popular claim? • Example: Digital Music and the “Music Industry” • The “end” of CD’s? The “end” of free downloadable music?

  5. Decentralization or Centralization? • “6-D” notion of the future… • Demassification….decentralization... denationalization…despacialization… disintermediation….disaggregation • …so what about Microsoft? Google? Yahoo? Others?

  6. “Decentralization” reconsidered: Open and Closed Systems • “open” systems • Open systems allow new members of a network to enter/exit through permeable boundaries. • E.g., online auctions, many public chatrooms • “closed” systems: • New members cannot easily enter a given network due to various restrictions (i.e., structural, legal, high cost) • Trade groups, private chatrooms.

  7. Example: Wikipedia • Openness creates risks for the online encyclopedia • Intentionally false information • Some information may lack “expert” knowledge • Deletion of information • Rings of hegemony? • Core group emerged to monitor and quickly fix problems. • Server/hardware management controlled by closed network of volunteers.

  8. Wikipedia Example • ‘open’ or ‘closed’ may best be thought of as a continuum rather than as two static conditions. • The open/closed nature of a system is may be related to competing dynamics of risk and growth. • Raises questions about how the structure of a given interaction situation affects the ‘open’ or ‘closed’ nature of a system.

  9. Productivity Paradox “administrative overhead, far from being curtailed by the introduction of office automation and subsequent information technologies, has increased steadily across a broad range of industries.” -Paul Attewell

  10. For Next Week: • Chapters from Lessig’s “Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace” • Web 2.0 Discussion

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