[Tech] Digital Media: Creators and Consumers

I have no real facts on the subject and I have not really done any true research in the area but I have developed a half baked theory on this topic. My theory is that there are three separate types of people when it comes to digital media: creators, consumers and the hybrids.

Creators
Creators are the artistic people. The ones who make the youtube videos, create the blogs everyone wants to read, the podcasters that do it for a living, etc. I envy these people in that they are going with it full force and I also thank them because I am not in this category. Generally I think these people are in the younger crowd who have grown up with this stuff just being second nature but by no means is that a rule. A lot of them also seem to be Mac people (especially the youtubers). These people also tend to learn by doing in my opinion.

Consumers
Consumers are those that sit back and watch. I identify with this crowd the most. We consume the content without adding anything to the conversation. Some may call it sloth but I sometimes think that I am just to busy trying to consume to create. I am trying to overcome that here. No one may read it but I am at least getting out the of box This group tends to learn more from observation and traditional lecture and reading format.

Hybrids
Hybrids are somewhere in the middle. They are neither exclusively creators or consumers but they do both. I assume this where the majority people who venture into this stuff are. These people are the true social media pioneers that both consume and contribute to the conversation. They seek to listen and to be heard. This is where I want to be and am struggling in this area due to my reclusive and private tendencies. Again, hence why I am here.

[Tech] Content Overload

So as an IT dude, I am starting to become entirely too overwhelmed with the different communication outlets out there. I simply can not keep up and my OCD tendencies do not help. I am the kind of person that has to have a clear inbox with no unread messages so you can imagine my frustration when my RSS feeds get updated, when I get a text message in the middle of a meeting, why the iphone is like a drug to me, or how unbelievable distracting TweetDeck is.

We live in a “now” society and I get that and I totally dig it but seriously it is starting to wear on me. My attempts to keep up with the political arena, the IT world, my religious readings, and my friends lives (via digital outlets) just does not all fit in my head. Below are just some examples:

Iphone
I use to criticize those with Iphones saying they were to connected and don’t turn off. While I am sticking with that basement I also confess that I love my iphone and I too now never turn off. This device is enables me to feed this craziness.

TweetDeck (Twitter)
I decided to start using TweetDeck when I started following more than 30 people and I couldn’t separate everything. I am a creature of habit and of organization so I, personally, need everything to be in its place. TweetDeck lets me do that. It also lets me see Facebook updates without logging into a separate application or client.

Facebook
I love facebook because it lets me see what everyone is doing. Most people that I know have not made the jump to Twitter and vise versa for the Twitter crowd (i.e. they are not big facebookers). There are still sometimes that I need to log into facebook for but TweetDeck feels like it is the solution for me for the time being since it does both.

Google Reader (RSS)
RSS feeds are killing me. I just can’t keep up with all of it with my clean desk mentality. I need a better solution in this area ASAP. I currently use Google Reader but if I miss a day then it piles up REALLY fast. I either need to change my thought process and concede that I just can not keep up will everything or find a different method (i.e. a junk folder that I only read when I get a chance).

Podcats
Same thing here as with RSS but instead it’s Itunes and not Google Reader.

So I don’t know about you but my mind is getting over stimulated with this stuff.