Jane Harris's Profile

It's no longer about push; it's about pull

We may be democratizing certain types of access, but we're not democratizing attention.

Opening up access to the structures of distribution is not democratizing when distribution is no longer the organizing function.

People consume content that stimulates their mind and senses

This is not always the "best" or most informative content, but that which triggers a reaction.

The ability to connect to others like us allows us to flow information across space and time in impressively new ways, but there's also a downside.

In a networked world, people connect to people like themselves

Information can and does flow in ways that create and reinforce social divides.

In a world of networked media, it's easy to not get access to views from people who think from a different perspective.

Only a small percentage of people are inclined to seek out opinions and ideas from cultures other than their own. These people are and should be highly valued in society,

In an era of networked media, we need to recognize that networks are homophilous and operate accordingly

Power is about being able to command attention, influence others' attention, and otherwise traffic in information. We give power to people when we give them our attention and people gain power when they bridge between different worlds and determine what information can and will flow across the network.

In a networked culture, there is also power in being the person spreading the content.

Instead, what we're seeing a new type of information broker emerge. These folks get credit for their structural position.

First, I believe that information spaces will get more niche.

Successful businesses will not be everything to everyone

To be relevant today requires understanding context, popularity, and reputation.

But the key is not going to be to create distinct destinations organized around topics, but to find ways in which content can be surfaced in context, regardless of where it resides.

Making content work in a networked era is going to be about living in the streams, consuming and producing alongside "customers." Consuming to understand, producing to be relevant. Content creators are not going to get to dictate the cultural norms just because they can make their content available; they are still accountable to those who are trafficking content.

the tools that consumers need are those that allow them to get into flow, that allow them to live inside information structures wherever they are, whatever they're doing. The tools that allow them to easily grab what they need and stay peripherally aware without feeling overwhelmed.

But we have yet to find the digital equivalent of alcohol.