Comments on: The Subscription Curve http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/ Thoughts about information, social networks, and privacy Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:54:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Todd Sieling http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-752 Todd Sieling Sat, 09 Jun 2007 19:09:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-752 Good post. I've thought for quite a while that the feeds I follow are to the wider world as a terrarium is to a full-blown ecosystem. This is nothing new, though, in a mass media age where we tend to seek out news and opinion sources that we agree with, and feel well informed from the steady flow of affirming information. The same goes for feeds - they don't make us necessarily better informed, but instead help us manage the range of our interests. <br/><br/>That said, serendipity is critical to a healthy intellectual life. I try to expand the scope of my feeds by making sure that there are aggregators in my aggregator: Metafilter is a good serendipity engine, as are search feeds (their error-prone surprises are often quite welcome). A lot of times I end up skimming and clicking little of what I see in these content collectors, but when something does jump out to me it often pays off. Good post. I’ve thought for quite a while that the feeds I follow are to the wider world as a terrarium is to a full-blown ecosystem. This is nothing new, though, in a mass media age where we tend to seek out news and opinion sources that we agree with, and feel well informed from the steady flow of affirming information. The same goes for feeds – they don’t make us necessarily better informed, but instead help us manage the range of our interests.

That said, serendipity is critical to a healthy intellectual life. I try to expand the scope of my feeds by making sure that there are aggregators in my aggregator: Metafilter is a good serendipity engine, as are search feeds (their error-prone surprises are often quite welcome). A lot of times I end up skimming and clicking little of what I see in these content collectors, but when something does jump out to me it often pays off.

]]> By: Bertil http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-751 Bertil Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:34:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-751 I'm subscribed to probably the same amount of podcasts & blog feeds, but I'm perfectly fine with having thousands of unread, un-listened comments mostly now about something already outdated most of the time. More then the subscription model ---witch is not new, and the best way to resolve the inherent "experience good" problem of information: you an only tell if it is relevant once you read it--- I rely on:<br/><br/>- easier refering (see the "e-mail" link in G-Reader);<br/><br/>- statistical classification: "This post appears to be relevant to people with similar reading patterns" helping a week, relevant signal to raise fast;<br/><br/>- [not implemented yet for feeds, but I have it for websites] recommendations for new insights;<br/><br/>-[not implemented yet for blogs, but exists for news source] sorting by event, and maybe arguments and opinion soon.<br/><br/>None of this has been sending us into Google-archy so far: what some have seen as a concentrating traffic is wrongly apprehended. I used to know one sceptic about IT (Nick Carr); now most people express their concerns: it's a good thing, it proves the technology empowers debate. I’m subscribed to probably the same amount of podcasts & blog feeds, but I’m perfectly fine with having thousands of unread, un-listened comments mostly now about something already outdated most of the time. More then the subscription model —witch is not new, and the best way to resolve the inherent “experience good” problem of information: you an only tell if it is relevant once you read it— I rely on:

- easier refering (see the “e-mail” link in G-Reader);

- statistical classification: “This post appears to be relevant to people with similar reading patterns” helping a week, relevant signal to raise fast;

- [not implemented yet for feeds, but I have it for websites] recommendations for new insights;

-[not implemented yet for blogs, but exists for news source] sorting by event, and maybe arguments and opinion soon.

None of this has been sending us into Google-archy so far: what some have seen as a concentrating traffic is wrongly apprehended. I used to know one sceptic about IT (Nick Carr); now most people express their concerns: it’s a good thing, it proves the technology empowers debate.

]]> By: Anthony http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-750 Anthony Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:20:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-750 I have 107 feeds in my Bloglines. I do mostly ok with those except when I take days off. Occasionally I prune for feeds that are defunct or which aren't really hitting the spot for me. (This is growing the list while increasing the quality, which is good except...more to read.)<br/><br/>I don't know how many podcasts are in my iTunes but about 200 episodes I haven't listened to. (I thought it was ridiculous when there were 80.) Now, several of those, like the massive SXSW sessions, are for when I run out of my regular ones to listen to, which happens sometimes.<br/><br/>Video podcasts get totally neglected because I have to be at my computer to watch them. I don't have a video iPod and if I did it wouldn't matter because I don't ride public transit.<br/><br/>I can't even talk about my stack of unread Wired and other magazines. I have 107 feeds in my Bloglines. I do mostly ok with those except when I take days off. Occasionally I prune for feeds that are defunct or which aren’t really hitting the spot for me. (This is growing the list while increasing the quality, which is good except…more to read.)

I don’t know how many podcasts are in my iTunes but about 200 episodes I haven’t listened to. (I thought it was ridiculous when there were 80.) Now, several of those, like the massive SXSW sessions, are for when I run out of my regular ones to listen to, which happens sometimes.

Video podcasts get totally neglected because I have to be at my computer to watch them. I don’t have a video iPod and if I did it wouldn’t matter because I don’t ride public transit.

I can’t even talk about my stack of unread Wired and other magazines.

]]> By: fred http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-749 fred Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:21:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-749 Ge - good point! Ge – good point!

]]> By: ge http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-748 ge Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:06:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-748 Well, I saw your post only because I have it in my google reader. If I hadn't subscribed to your blog, I would never have known about this post (altho I suspect it'll be tagged in a lot of places where I might see it, too).<br/><br/>So this is an example of a subscription <strong>broadening</strong> the scope of what I read.<br/><br/>-- ge Well, I saw your post only because I have it in my google reader. If I hadn’t subscribed to your blog, I would never have known about this post (altho I suspect it’ll be tagged in a lot of places where I might see it, too).

So this is an example of a subscription broadening the scope of what I read.

– ge

]]> By: Anil http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-747 Anil Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:50:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-747 Very interesting post on subscriptions. So, the MyYahoo, Netvibes model is "private/personal" media consumption based while Facebook's model is "social/friends" media consumption based.<br/><br/>According to you which is more powerful? Seems like the FB model is currently winning. Could there be a "happy" medium between personal subscriptions and friend feeds? Very interesting post on subscriptions. So, the MyYahoo, Netvibes model is “private/personal” media consumption based while Facebook’s model is “social/friends” media consumption based.

According to you which is more powerful? Seems like the FB model is currently winning. Could there be a “happy” medium between personal subscriptions and friend feeds?

]]> By: Greg http://fstutzman.com/2007/06/08/the-subscription-curve/comment-page-1/#comment-746 Greg Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:26:00 +0000 http://127.0.0.1/~fred/projects/blog/?p=448#comment-746 I know what you mean. Sitting next to my lazy-boy, i've got 10 unread magazines, from shutterbug to linux journal and ALOT of macbreak and rails podcasts to catch up on (at least 6 months worth). I love it when my schedule is busy, but I have to weed through this stuff sooner or later. I know what you mean. Sitting next to my lazy-boy, i’ve got 10 unread magazines, from shutterbug to linux journal and ALOT of macbreak and rails podcasts to catch up on (at least 6 months worth). I love it when my schedule is busy, but I have to weed through this stuff sooner or later.

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