Packaging & Sharing

When was the last time you analyzed how you receive information, and the importance of its packaging?

This challenge explores two aspects of information that are easy to confuse: the form the information takes, and the way it is delivered to you. Let’s look at an example—a tweet. You could simply say that the format of this information is a tweet, and it came through your Twitter feed. Most everyone would know what you mean by this, but let’s delve a little deeper.

The format of a Tweet is obviously short and usually very casual. You can’t get very in-depth in 280 written characters, though you can provide more information in the form (consider the word form—the root of format) of a link to an online site or a photograph.

The mode of delivery for the tweet is digital—you get tweets through your phone, a tablet, or a computer.

The two quests you are about to undertake will encourage you to think about why information format and mode is important, and why you want to spend some time thinking about these things, both when you are looking for information, and when you are creating it for the use of others.

In four to five sentences, describe how your thinking has changed about finding information, specifically about the effect of format and delivery mode. What effect does this new awareness bring to your consumption or production of information?