The questionable value of the real-time web – Daniel Tenner, Nov 2009
At its core, the concept of “real-time web” must be about the immediacy of information flow. Something happens and you find out about it immediately (or nearly so).
Clearly, real-time updates are useful in some circumstances. For example, if you depend on information to do your work, real-time updates are not just useful — they’re an essential competitive advantage. When you’re [collaborating] with someone, real-time feedback else can save you from having to have a live, in-person meeting with them.
What about real-time updates about things that have nothing to do with work? What’s not debatable is that real-time information has a very real cost: our attention. Constant interruptions of our attention on one set of things harm our ability to concentrate on another set of things.
Why information is its own reward – Ed Yong, Science Blogs, July 2009
…a new study suggests that the same neurons that process the primitive physical rewards of food and water also signal the more abstract mental rewards of information. Humans generally don’t like being held in suspense when a big prize is on the horizon.
Dopamine neurons are thought to be involved in learning about rewards – by adjusting the connections between other neurons, they “teach” the brain to seek basic rewards like food and water. Bromberg-Martin and Hikosaka think that these neurons also teach the brain to seek out information so that their activity becomes a sort of “common currency” that governs both basic needs and a quest for knowledge.
Data Tools
- The Archivist – MS Research, Twitter archiving and visualisation tool
- Wordle
- Twitter Sentiment
- Twistori
Data Sources
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