New type of literacy...

So, literacy is changing. This is something that's been coming up in my classes as we have talked about how schools, education, culture will be different in the future. One of the things that I've been chewing on is this new type of literacy. How many people actually read the newspaper anymore? I mean, gets the cup of coffee and in your bathrobe, dodges the paperboy's skyhook on the front porch. The WAY we read is changing. Print media (while never to disappear), is taking a big hit, and news providers are changing. I could go on an on about the Time Person of the Year, but I just wanted to talk about Bloglines.
Blogs and news servers are changing the way news is disseminated by the use of RSS technology. Don't be afraid: RSS essentially stands for 'really simple syndication.' It's a way for people to "subscribe" to a blog or news source and have the information sent to you in real time as information is produced. Bloglines.com is an aggregator which basically is a place that manages and holds all of your RSS feeds. It's great because, instead of daily having to remember which blogs and news websites and such you want to read, you just go to your one-stop (free) blogline account and it will let you navigate through your subscriptions. This comes in especially handy since some of my friends and family members will only post things on their blogs once in a blue moon, so instead of me checking back for something new all the time, my aggregator alerts me when something new comes up.
My father is astonished at how I am constantly spouting off the latest fantasy baseball news claiming that I must spend hours daily scouring baseball news sites. Perhaps there may be some truth to that, but it brings me back to this idea of how literacy is changing. You don't have to spend hours combing over volumes of information; you have to be able to find the relevant information efficiently and keep moving. I'll subscribe to my fantasy baseball news RSS feeds, and rather than reading the newspaper and box scores cover to cover, I peruse the headlines that interest me, get the information I need or want, and move on. In case my principal is reading this, NO I do NOT spend hours reading fantasy baseball news. Thank you.