Caught a snippet of an interview with Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome at Viewzi.tv. When asked how he’d improve search, Chris stated that the problem with search is that it lacks context.
That’s exactly the problem that I have with search, context. In my view it’s not just what I’m looking for but why I’m looking for it. The why is the critical component that so often leads me to frustration at the search results I receive.
What’s this have to do with this post’s title? Well Chris also spoke to crowdsourcing as the way he injects context into his own personal quest for answers. It struck me – maybe I’m slow – that this is the key to social media from Tweeter & Plurk to LinkedIn & Plaxo to Delicious & Digg. Context. By asking the crowd for their advice you’re able, albeit slower than the millisecond-delivered responses of Google and other search engines, to seek and apply the context that’s missing from your everyday inquiries.
But, it also seems that, to get context, you have to give context so use the social net to seek context but don’t forget to help others obtain it too.
