Many months ago I posted a video (here) by Clay Shirky, a very perceptive commenter on the social effects of technology. Yesterday I found another talk of his on a different topic: the idea that the challenge we face today is not so much “information overload,” but “filter failure.” That is, the problem that the internet introduces is not that we have too much information (since that problem has been with us since the printing press), but that it is tearing down the natural barriers that used to limit information flow (giving rise to the notions of ‘quality control’ in areas like publishing, and of ‘privacy’ in our personal lives).
The video is ~24 minutes. If you get a chance to watch it, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts, especially regarding how the need to “manage information flow” (as he puts it) has affected your life.