Serendipity and Aggregators
Steven and Ken are writing a bit about how aggregating content changes serendipity.
One of my grad school professors taught us quite a bit about the importance of serendipity. I appreciate serendipity in real life. Many of my blog posts come from getting stuck in the pluff mud–what my friend Bob and I call following a trail of links, getting lost, and finding that time just evaporates while we play on the Internet. There’s always more to do, more serendipity to encounter.
I’m not sure how aggregating feeds might change the level of serendipity I experience. If I wasn’t aggregating the feeds I am, would I reach further beyond what’s in my aggregator anyway? I am still following interesting links all over the place. I don’t think I’m doing that less just because something’s in my aggregator.
If anything, I might be exposing myself to more sources because I’m using an aggregator. Without the technology to have sources delivered to my desktop to read at my leisure, I definitely wouldn’t be reading so many sources. (I forget the exact number right now, but I think it’s around 100.)
