Journalism in the Age of Data.

A co-worker pointed out to me that Gmail has no sort.  I never realized.  (Maybe that’s why my inbox is always full?)  As I thought about it more and Google search itself, it got me thinking about how we sift through information.  Google has changed the way we look for things on the Internet and has in a way defined how we search for it. Unfortunately, not everyone searches and filters the Google way.

Think about it.

When you Google, you enter a phrase and are then displayed tons of listings.  You can then filter, however the options are filtered by Google.

Maybe that’s not enough, maybe you need something Advanced, like this:

But that looks scary to me, and I’m tech savvy! I can only imagine what my parents would think if they saw that page.   As each day passes, there is more information and currently how we search especially on Google isn’t going to cut it.  To efficiently navigate through the information, we must be able to search, filter, and sort.  In my opinion, these three are essential.  So why did Google limit sorting?  And I am talking sorting beyond date or alphabetical.

We are all different.  How we organize things is different.  So why can’t we customize our own way of searching, filtering, and sorting?

I read this article on TechCrunch about a new start up company called Memolane whose aim is to:

Memolane is your digital memory – your tool to rediscover your social life on the Internet. Memolane is a digital platform collecting and connecting your thoughts, pictures, messages and music yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I am happy yet scared.  I am happy because I’ve been on the lookout for an app that can manage my information that not only exists online but offline as well.  I’m scared because although it may aggregate my information, what happens from there is what will make me stay or make me go.

There are many apps out there that can aggregate your information.  I call these aggregators.   Examples include: lifestreaming apps such as Sweetcron and Friendfeed, social media apps such as Facebook, and note taking apps such as Evernote and Zotero.  If an app can import a rss feed, it’s an aggregator.

As you may have noticed, the apps that I listed are different from each other and focus on a specific type of information.  However, there aren’t many that does it all and does it well.

Face it, we are in the beginnings of an app overload.  There is an app for everything and although that may be great it can be overwhelming.  I would equate it the difference of having 10 ice cream flavors to choose from versus 30.  I’m happy with my Android phone but am overwhelmed with the number of apps that I found that I needed to install so that I can not only keep track of my information but as well as access it.  As information gathering devices (mobile, tablet, computer, etc ) become more intertwined with our lives and the number of apps that are available increase, there will be a greater need to aggregate and manage the information that is spread across these apps.

• Futhermore, the need to let the user customize how they view and interpret information will be important to an aggregator app.  This is where I’ve been repeatedly disappointed with the current apps (and have contemplating of making my own for some time now).  It’s great that I can bring the information into the app, but what can I – the user – do with it and have it help me?

So I’ve decided to compile a list of must haves that the aggregator should have:

• Import and Export of Data
• Security and Privacy of Data (Honestly, I would love it to be able to host the app on my own site)
• Custom organization/view of Data – This is the most important aspect for me and where I feel most apps dropped the ball.  How I organize and view my data is different from how my next door neighbor does.  So please stop pigeonholing me into the same category.   Give me a set of tools that I can work with so that I can have it my way.

This idea of customization of organizing and viewing data is something that has been plaguing me forever.  We are a bunch of Googlers.  We can find information.  But we can’t organize it the way we want it to.  Google came out with Wonderwheel which I found to be fascinating.

Imagine if I can combine the result of 5 google searches together and view it in Wonderwheel.  Holy crap.  The possibilities are endless and my imagination has gone overboard.

My greatest desire is to express this thought and I wish there was an easy way to communicate it.  Helas, I will have to start small and make no mistake I have started to.  A co-worker and I have begun working on an app.  It’s a test area for my idea.  I am confident it will succeed and I will do my best to push it forward.