Today’s New York Times “Digital Domain” section addresses the ongoing dilemma of the overcrowded email inbox. Mentioning “email bankruptcy” and general anxiety in response to mounting emails, the article outlines several services established to help alleviate this predicament, including “ClearContext (sorts Outlook inbox messages by imputed importance), Xobni (offers a full communications history within Outlook for every sender, as well as very fast searching), Boxbe (restricts incoming e-mail if the sender is not known), and RapidReader (displays e-mail messages, a single word at a time, for accelerated reading speeds that can reach up to 950 words a minute).”
Of course, this concern is not a novel one (the article even references the habits of those proficient in responding to correspondence, including journalist H. L. Mencken’s practice of typing a response to each letter on the day it was received), but it does draw attention to a negative aspect of the Web 2.0 environment: information overload. With a culture empowered by the glamour of participation on the web through numerous social networks and blogs, the luxury of real time communication comes with the expectation of instantaneous response. This immediate reaction, let alone a carefully crafted reply, might not always be possible considering the sheer volume of options the Internet provides. The beauty of Web 2.0 rests on the assumption of near constant interaction with content, but for any individual, this expectation can become overwhelming.
Ultimately, the author suggests checking email infrequently throughout the day. This recommendation, while soothingly simple, flies in the face of the constant connection on which the Web 2.0 user experience—and marketing promise—is based.
Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/technology/20digi.html?em&ex=1208836800&en=5aec939ff6296bbd&ei=5087%0A
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