Verified Document

Social Networking - Technology Information A-Level Coursework

The overemphasis of social systems to the detriment of needed technical changes also militates against hybrid technical-social changes to effectively deal with information overload. Inherent in Blair's explanation of the difficulty in accessing and reading electronic records with obsolete hardware/software is the organizational practice of relying on humans to compensate for those obsolete systems (Blair, 2010). Some organizations force employees with unavoidably limited resources, including but not limited to money, time, staff, energy and other assets, to compensate for outdated technology. As Blair's article illustrates, technological changes must keep pace with increasingly dramatic influxes of information in order to adequately collect, sort, store, select and summarize that information (Blair, 2010). Ignoring the necessary technical element of organizations leads to purely social/human solutions that are inadequate to solve an organization's information problems. Research and examination of organizational dynamics shows that the human-machine relationship should be thoroughly considered when dealing with information and that the problem of information overload is better solved through changes to both technical and social systems.

3. Conclusion

Organizations are likely to find better solutions to information overload through changes to both their technical and social systems. Technical systems should be repeatedly assessed and upgraded as often as practicable to handle information and minimize its overload. In addition, as the flood of information continually rises, new and better technical tools for collecting, sorting, storing, selecting and summarizing are vital for handling that information with unavoidably limited resources, including but not limited to money, time, staff, energy and other assets. Furthermore, purely technical changes in an organization's systems cannot cure or replace some human factors vitally affecting an organization. In the face of an organizational problem, the mere introduction of new technology ignores the "two-way relationship between people and machines" and may fail to solve or even exacerbate the problem because it does not account for both negative and positive human...

Pure technology cannot adequately compensate for failings in humans and in their management and cannot replace positive exclusively human qualities such as judgment and wisdom. Certainly, there are arguments or at least practices disagreeing with the need for changes in both technical and social systems to handle information overload. The inadequacies of exclusively technical changes or exclusively social/human changes for dealing with information overload are clearly set forth in the course's required readings. Ignoring the necessary social/human element of organizations leads to technical changes that are inadequate to solve an organization's information problems. On the other hand, ignoring the necessary technical element of organizations leads to purely social/human solutions that are inadequate to solve an organization's information problems. Consequently, the human-machine relationship should be thoroughly considered, as the problem of information overload is better solved through changes to both technical and social systems.
Works Cited

Bellinger, G., Castro, D., & Mills, a. (2004). Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from www.systems-thinking.org Web site: http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

Blair, a. (2010, November 28). Information overload, then and now. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from chronicle.com Web site: http://chronicle.com/article/Information-Overload-Then-and/125479/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Errey, C., & Liu, X. (2006, February). Socio-technical systems: There's more to performance than new technology. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from www.ptg-global.com Web site: http://www.ptg-global.com/PDFArticles/Socio%20technical%20systems%20-%20There's%20more%20to%20performance%20than%20new%20technology%20v1.0.pdf

Green, P. (2010, August 16). Social media is challenging notions of the data, information, knowledge, wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from www.cmswire.com Web site: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/social-media-is-challenging-notions-of-the-data-information-knowledge-wisdom-dikw-hierarchy -- 008320.php

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Bellinger, G., Castro, D., & Mills, a. (2004). Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from www.systems-thinking.org Web site: http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

Blair, a. (2010, November 28). Information overload, then and now. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from chronicle.com Web site: http://chronicle.com/article/Information-Overload-Then-and/125479/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Errey, C., & Liu, X. (2006, February). Socio-technical systems: There's more to performance than new technology. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from www.ptg-global.com Web site: http://www.ptg-global.com/PDFArticles/Socio%20technical%20systems%20-%20There's%20more%20to%20performance%20than%20new%20technology%20v1.0.pdf

Green, P. (2010, August 16). Social media is challenging notions of the data, information, knowledge, wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy. Retrieved April 21, 2013 from www.cmswire.com Web site: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/social-media-is-challenging-notions-of-the-data-information-knowledge-wisdom-dikw-hierarchy -- 008320.php
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Social Networking Is Not Safe for Children
Words: 712 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Social Networking Is Not Safe for Children Social networking is ubiquitous in today's culture; even elementary school children operate blogs and join social networking sites such as Facebook. Millions of children place highly personal information on these sites, and spend hours a day interacting with people on social networking sites. While it is true that social networking can sometimes have a positive impact on children's growth and personal development, the time

Social Networking Industry Is Entering a Period
Words: 1266 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Social networking industry is entering a period of maturation, and this will have significant impacts on the way we approach entering this market. Maturation of the social media industry comes in two forms. The first is that user growth is beginning to slow for many social networks, and there are fewer niches for new entrants to occupy and build a user base. Google + famously failed to attract a user

Social Networking Is a Boon
Words: 644 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Employers have also been known to browse through their employees' SNW profiles after they are hired. This practice is highly unethical, but the user must also take personal responsibility for how they manage their online presence and SNW profiles. Therefore, the following rules and recommendations apply for how to use social networking to advance one's career. 1. Keep work and play separate. One way of doing this is by creating two

Social Networking Sites Not Everyone in the
Words: 1011 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Social Networking Sites Not everyone in the world visits social media networking sites, or uses sites like Facebook, but millions of people do, and for the most part, those users find Facebook to be a helpful way to stay in touch with friends and to make new friends as well. This paper points to the many positive things that result from using Facebook, and why millions of people -- and myriad

Social Networking Sites 'People Are Critical of
Words: 922 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Social Networking Sites 'People are critical of social networking sites, noting that they promote self-centeredness, reduce our ability to cope with emotions, and cheapen what it means to be a friend.' I do totally agree with this statement and in this essay I will be providing information to support the above statement. The above statement contends to the fact that there are more potential dangers to the use of social networking

Social Networking Benefits and Dangers
Words: 1075 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Lender will make a lot of money because the broker found the clients for this lender. This system of interaction functions the business efficiently and makes big savings for the welfare of the company as well as for its employees. After observing its best results, many companies are entering into the business field and are investing money in large amounts. Social networking sites such as MySpace have some disadvantage as

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now