Comments on: More on serendipity and browsing

By: Containers without context « Feral Librarian

Containers without context « Feral Librarian — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:13:14 +0000

[...] folks might be concerned for the loss of some forms of serendipity that one gets from finding a song on an album that you like, even though you purchased the album [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:57:03 +0000

Thanks for the comment. I agree that conceptually, serendipity is the same regardless of environment/medium. I do think that the serendipitous discoveries we make vary on some dimensions, and that those variations might be related to online vs. print. For example, you seem to be arguing that the serendipitous discoveries one makes online will be more entertaining than the serendipitous discoveries gained from print browsing. I’m not sure I agree, but it is a testable hypothesis.
I would argue (and hint at this in these posts) that the serendipitous discoveries one makes online are likely to be less closely related to one’s original intent than those one makes while print browsing. Again-this is a testable hypothesis.

If my writing leads you to believe I have a preference for online content over print, then I need to begin writing more clearly! While I am excited and intrigued by the possibilities presented by digital content and tools, I remain an avid consumer of print content. And I am happy to find both amusement and enlightenment in whatever format it takes …
Cheers, and thanks for reading.

By: Alfonsina

Alfonsina — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:31:56 +0000

Feral Blogger,

Serendipity –the conceptual act, does not change with one medium or the other. It remains an accidental (perhaps fortunate) discovery while looking for something else, period. Now, by browsing over some of your posts we can see certain favoritism for this electronic medium, thus making us believe that what you favor is not necessarily serendipity when you are online but amusement (which the online medium offers plentifully). True, the War Wide Web is definitely more entertaining than a book. Especially when a book is judged simply by its cover.
I have run into people who tend to favor magazines and newspapers over books. The reason: illustration gives their brain a joyful break.

Ciao bell@

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:51:38 +0000

Hi Michele-thanks for the great comment. I totally agree that no matter what kind of browsing I am doing, I need the reflective time to actually make the connections among the stuff I find. For me, that is true online or off — in fact, I touched on that idea in my very first post here Google is not making us stupid.
Love your quote “Serendipity is not an offline or online thing, it is a human thing”!
I think it might be fruitful to try to understand the differences and similarities between online and offline browsing and serendipity.