I hear a lot about personalization these days. Yahoo, for instance, enables you to configure a "My Yahoo" page, for your use. Many other sites engage in personalization.
Is personalization helpful or not to the visitor?
I was completely in favor of personalization, until I read the following in Internet Week, of 6/5/2000.
"That browser - the portal - will be customized to look like a corporate version of Yahoo. There will be an area on the home page for internal company business, another for interacting with customers and yet another for dealing with business partners such as suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and bankers. In the morning, the employee will get the news feeds customized to his job without having to search for them . If he has an expense report due, he'll be alerted. If he wanst to check his 401K or a health insurance claim in process, he'll find it. If he's in sales and wants to check client lists. it will be there in the system. The portal will scan the Intranet, Internet and extranet all day and send the employee information that fits his profile as an employee of corporation X."
Wow! Big Brsother is coming back. With the above approach everything is organized for you, everything you need is easy to reach, every tool is at your disposal. All you need do is you "job."
Is this helpful to you? NO. All the learning you need to do is taken away from you. All the information you need is given to you. What happens to you? You become a cog. You do as your told - the inevitable result of centralization. And this is centralization in a BIG way.
Does this mean personalization is inherently unhelpful? No. Everything depends on the intentions of those promulgating personalization. Often it is helpful. Topica, for instance, allows me to go directly to the LearningFOUNT page to administer the list. Very helpful.
Beware of the type of personalization that makes you conform and doesn't allow you to learn, grow and develop.
