This has sort of split me and my group off onto a tangent, and we have proven there was more information moved between government and NGO departments prior to email than there is today...When measured as "useful, actionable information."
How is that measured? Does the reduction in information flow appear to be an artifact of technological change, cultural change, or some combination?
Entirely cultural, because...
(I'm
quite cognizant that making it easier for people to ask questions results in a higher proportion of stupid questions.)
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This seems to be the prime mover.
Allowing dumb people to move information was never a good idea, and allowing them to do it easily and at will was really, really a bad plan.
I get about 87 emails a day. Deciding which half dozen contain actual information takes a couple of hours out of my day, all told. Now, in the old days, you could decide whether or not to read a memo based on who sent it to you. You don't know if Barney in the next office wrote the email or if he's forwarding something from someone that matters.