Daily Me

Daily Me

According to Wikipedia, “The Daily Me is a term coined by MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte as a daily newspaper customized for the individual tastes.” Negroponte’s idea dates back to the 1970 are when the Internet was new. His idea has built steam now that the Internet has grown in popularity as well as in infrastructure. Companies like Amazon.com and Google have moved in the direction of Negroponte’s idea. They keep track of their customer’s previous choices and makes recommendations for future purchases or web pages that would interest them.

A full blown Daily Me Internet experience will bring you the information that you want to hear. If you are into national politics and a Democrat then your news would contain news stories that centers around Democratic issues in the national arena. If you are a Chicago Bulls fan, your sports report would be centered on basketball and the Chicago Bulls. If the stock market was your interest, you would get news about the market but not the entire market. You would only get information about the market that you are in like the New York Stock Exchange and your particular stock holdings.

The idea of Daily Me has both positive and negative factors associated with it. The situation described above would provide you with the news that you are interested in. You would not be inundated with news that you are not interested in like soccer games. This could be a very positive situation. You can become more productive and your time can be spent more wisely. The negative side to this is that you would not get the other side. Your arguments in politics or religion would be bolstered by the information that you receive but you are not getting the entire story. I often tell my children that in any situation there are usually three sides, your side, the other side, and the truth somewhere in the middle. If you were in a situation such as the Daily Me that supported everything that you said and did, you would start to feel a false sense of knowledge and security. This is known as the Echo Chamber effect.

The Echo Chamber effect is similar to you being in a cave and the only voice you hear is yourself. There is no one to contradict you or say that you are wrong. I have had several managers over the years that loved to hear what they wanted to hear. Unfortunately, there are many employees that gave them the information that they wanted even if it was not true. I used to tell them that I could tell you what you want or I could tell you the truth.

It is important for our personal growth and the growth of our society to gather information that both support and oppose our views. This knowledge is how we make rational decisions. The most appropriate decision may not be the one that we support.