Filtering in the context of “social media” is actually twofolds: filtering “who you listen to” and filtering “what you’re interested in”.

That’s very different from traditional “keyword filtering” we’ve been used to in Google.

One paradigm shift is that people have to depart from the idea of knowing everything towards focusing on the things that matter and actually manage their time & attention as a limited and high value ressource.

We monitor, listen and engage as a team a large number of blogs in social media (that’s how I got this post) and although there is still improvements down the road, we’ve made huge productivity gains in listening & engaging with the larger social media community:

http://blog.ecairn.com/2008/05/29/monitoring-600-blogs-on-social-media-marketing/

Filtering in the context of “social media” is actually twofolds: filtering “who you listen to” and filtering “what you're interested in”.

That's very different from traditional “keyword filtering” we've been used to in Google.

One paradigm shift is that people have to depart from the idea of knowing everything towards focusing on the things that matter and actually manage their time & attention as a limited and high value ressource.

We monitor, listen and engage as a team a large number of blogs in social media (that's how I got this post) and although there is still improvements down the road, we've made huge productivity gains in listening & engaging with the larger social media community:

http://blog.ecairn.com/2008/05/29/monitoring-60...

Why?

Because so very, very few need a filter for the noise in the first place.

Think: how many people have a Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, and use a blog reader? Hell, how many have Facebook and any one of these other services?

An incredible few. The general public isn’t overloaded with information, and it’s not really economical for someone to develop a technology and a business to filter all of these services when none of these services are mainstream, minus Facebook.

The demand is just not there, not yet at least. We’re just the crazy early adopters who have taken it upon ourselves to get immersed in the noise.

Why?

Because so very, very few need a filter for the noise in the first place.

Think: how many people have a Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, and use a blog reader? Hell, how many have Facebook and any one of these other services?

An incredible few. The general public isn't overloaded with information, and it's not really economical for someone to develop a technology and a business to filter all of these services when none of these services are mainstream, minus Facebook.

The demand is just not there, not yet at least. We're just the crazy early adopters who have taken it upon ourselves to get immersed in the noise.