Bad Ratings : Beneficial?

I looked at an study based article called "Negative Ratings Play a Positive Role in Information Filtering" by Wei Zeng, Yu-Xiao Zhu, Linyuan Lü and Tao Zhou. In the article they talked about how ratings have helped in filtering information out that is not quality data, and in turn has helped lessen information overload.
I found the article by searching "information overload" in the TAMU library article database. I then clicked on the link that lead me to the full text online. Once arriving at the page when the article was, there was a yellow sticky note in the right corner that declared the article was a peer-reviewed/scholarly article. I also noticed that the article had an abstract and a reference section. These sections of the article confirmed that it was scholarly.
The authors support what they refer to as the Recommender System. This system is something we are all aware of even if we do not realize it. For example, when you go to Amazon and have previously looked at things on the site, the website will suggest other products you might like. This cuts down on the continuous search among all the products, which in the end causes information overload to be cut down also. They also say that the rating system helps with this problem too. When someone tells the server they do not like something, the server can then only dish out the information that is relevant to the internet surfer.
They come to the conclusion that "negative ratings are more significant for sparse data sets and for small-degree users/objects." This means that it is useful to those of us that use the internet for entertainment or just for every day minor activities. However, negative ratings can also lead to having future information hidden from you when you later need it or your preference changes. For normal users this may not be a big deal, but for those who use the internet for business or every day challenges this may cause an issue later down the road.
The article is not really trying to convince you of anything particularly. It is a study based article. They find their results and display the results to the audience in a very clear way. They do not just display the results that support their hypothesis they look at both sides. 
In the end, there is a lot of work to be done to help with the reduction of information overload. However, there are little steps being made currently to help with reaching this lofty goal.

Too Much "Stuff" is Sent

I found an article written by Nicolas called "'Limiting Sending Rights' as Solution to Information Overload," where the writer is arguing that maybe it is the "sender" that is causing us to be overloaded with information. The writer goes on to talk about how there should be new methods put in place to limit amounts of information that can be sent to subscribers and so forth. 
The writer states that "once the connection between sender and receiver is established (e.g. subscription to a newsletter) the sender can send us as much information as he or she wants." He backs of this statement by saying that once the subscriber is in "connection" with the writer, the subscriber has no control over how much or what information is sent to him or her. The warrant is that every time someone subscribes to something, they will be bombarded with useless information and eventually unsubscribe out of annoyance.  
I think that sometimes this can be true and sometime it can be false. Many of times I have subscribed to a new letter or website and have only gotten useful information. For example, I belong to a nutrition group and get paper or things happening dietary in our world. This group only sends me things that are relevant to my area of study which is didactics and help me be aware of current problems. However, I have subscribed to things that eventually I unsubscribe to just do to the fact of the information overload 
occurrence as discussed above.
The paper goes on to discuss numerous ways that this overload of information merely from the sender could be filtered or stopped as a whole. There is definitely more than just the sender to blame though for this overflow of information. We as americans need to really stop and think about what information we are reading and subscribing to on a daily basis.  

Enough is Enough

Do you find yourself checking eight different "accounts" when getting onto your personal PC or mobile phone? As first you might think eight is a lot; but if you really sit back and evaluate all the technology your involved in, it really isn't. I am ashamed to admit all my current technology related "memberships": Facebook, Twitter, "howdy" Email, a fitness logger, Blogger, Glogster, Yahoo Email and Chase banking. Right there in about thirty seconds I easily came up with eight and I am sure there are a few I am missing. I wish I could say I was the only one like this; however, this seems to be the current theme. This is especially true when looking at Digital Natives. 
The two blogs I discuss their own and others active involvement in technology, particularly social media. In Danah's blog , her main point is how annoying and overwhelming all of the social networks and communication tools online can be. She even goes to say that, "For me, it’s too much. Too much I tell you." Having to check a million applications and sites when you open up your laptop is too overwhelming, no one needs to talk to you that much. Sarah had the same opinion while looking at purchasing a smart phone, "Would I just be a little too connected? Do I really need my email to follow me around on the bus?" Sarah decided against her purchase due to all of the continual "checking" of different applications that would then ensue.

Both Danah and Sarah use ethos to convey they are frustrated and overwhelmed with all of the recent and continuing technological advances. Danah decided that she was going to help fix this problem by only replying back to emails she got. She would still be a member of all the other social connections but would no respond to any of the messages. Sarah seems to agree with Danah in a way seen through her actions of not buying a smart phone. Both girls definitely agree that information overload is getting on their last nerve. It was easy for me to see their clear emotions and feelings toward communication through recent technology and online programming.
I definitely agree with both of the girls, but when is enough enough? It is hard to sit back and just watch everyone engage in all the internet has to offer. Facebook is a great way of keeping up or finding people that you would not be able to stay in touch with otherwise. But at the same time, if Facebook is the only thing keeping you in touch then maybe the relationship is not that important to begin with.
I really like Danah strategy of only answering to one messaging program; however, especially for college students this is not practical. Even campus organizations and the universities themselves use social media as a way to inform members or students on upcoming events or traumatic events that may have occurred.
Danah and Sarah both did a great job displaying their feelings about information overload and how they will strive to cope with it all. However, I do not think it is always really up to the individual how much they choose to be involved. It is sometimes required, for example "howdy", to be checking the internet multiple times a day.
When talking about digital natives, as I am one myself, it is hard to imagine a world without all of this social media. It is what we have always know and seen daily. Does is really cause any of us in our late teens, early twenties to have anxiety? 

TMI

http://www.relationship-economy.com/?p=5222

I think William Van Winkle says it best, Americans are "ingesting information constantly to the point of choking on it. " Everyday we take in so much information and most of the time only retain a very small percentage of it. If this idea of actually how much information we are comprehending is common knowledge among most all americans, they why do we constantly seek to find additional information knowing that we will most likely forget it? Some might say that it is the medias' fault that we are exposed to mounds of information, particularly false accusations of the "rich and famous"; however, why does the media keeps supplying and falsifying news?

This question is easily answered with the quote from Mr. Winkle himself. Americans love "knowing everything", for lack of better terms. If it was not for us repeatedly buying and talking about all this news, then the media would no longer have a market for it. To go along with the words of Mr. Winkle, the media supplys us with the "food" and we choose to continually over eat it to the point of "choking" ourselves. Getting TMI (too much information) can even have proven side effects such as overconfidence and weakened vision.

 I think people in the U.S.A. really need to evaluate themselves to see if the information they are bringing in is really necessary. Obviously there is some information that you are unwilling going to hear, but there is also a lot of news that we could steer away from. This small act could keep us from voluntarily "choking" ourselves daily.

Living in a Digital World

As I began to look at the different inquiry areas, one particular area seemed to stand out the most: "Information Overload, Information Quality, and Learning." This area caught my attention due to the rapid increase of the use of technology in educational setting. The use of things such as computers and projectors is now almost a "must-have" in the classrooms. Another sub-topic that interested me was how Americans now are so consumed with knowing everything and what everyone is doing at every moment. We are,  as the topic points out, overloaded with information daily. In my opinion, the majority of this information is not of good quality either. However; people take whatever information they can get and use it in
every day conversion. Now, we are not only getting information through the television and radio, but among a handful of other places also. It is not uncommon for someone to be watching television while surfing the web on their computer and texting a friend. This may be teaching people how to multi-task,  but I think it is also causing people to miss out on other aspects of life. There are obviously many topics that can be discussed under this inquiry area. Many of them will be discussed in later blogs such as the incline of technology use in general, using technology to education, getting false information from technology, or even getting your personal information exposed to the world through technology. I am very interested in learning more about this topic and sharing the information gained with my fellow bloggers.