Filter Failure in Society

I found Clay Shirky’s speech, “It’s Not Information Overload. It’s Filter Failure” extremely interesting and informative. One of the most interesting points that Shirky made in his speech is his assertion that “information overload” has existed for centuries, starting with Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the 15^th century. The introduction of this printing press resulted in increased publication of printed work, allowing information to be available to those who previously were not capable of acquiring it. Even during this time, more books were being printed than a single person could read in a lifetime. (More information about the issue of information overload in the 15^th century can be found in this short article by Cory Doctorow entitled, “Complaining About Information Overload in the Time of Ecclesiastes” http://boingboing.net/2010/11/28/complaining-about-in.html). As Shirky points out, because publishers take an economic risk when they print a text, the information which is published is strictly filtered. The introduction of the internet resulted in the ability for people to publish information with little to no interference, and as a result, without much of a filter. The fact that “information overload” has been around for centuries, and that today much of the information in the public eye is not strictly filtered, this leads me to believe that the problem current day society is facing concerning information is more of a result of filter failure rather than information overload. It seems that there will always be more information in circulation than one single person can possible absorb. This must be accepted as a fact. However, it is imperative that society focuses on filtering information in order to keep the most important pieces at the forefront, while making an effort to regulate the pieces of information that are not significant. That is not to say that I am hoping for an “information police force” to delete and destroy anything that may not be considered important in society, as this would blatantly go against a person’s right to freedom of speech, however, everyone would benefit from a certain level of filtering on mediums such as the internet, where almost anything and everything has the ability to be put in the public eye.