Where Rabbit Holes Lead

November 8, 2008 · Comments

(Yes, every single link on this page is for Amazon’s site, but use your library. It has nothing to do with selling you a book.)

I was looking for this book:

I found these:

The Point

The process that led me through those books is sloppy and not exactly research. It’s more like idea design. In every instance, I looked at the book that caught my attention, and then I devoured the user-entered data. (First point: social proofing and user-entered data is powerful.) I read what others had to say about it, and then I read the best and worst reviews. I looked at the context of other things Amazon wanted me to know. And I made some judgments based on that.

Second point: in all cases, the path of my exploration formed new thoughts and ideas in my head. (Note: it’s also 12:21AM and I’m strung out on caffeine, which also helps me form new ideas.) These will lead to future work. People ask me where I get my ideas. It’s definitely not from just regurgitating what the blogosphere throws my way.

Third and final point: don’t avoid rabbit holes. At least not always. There’s something there (or there can be.)

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  • As I board this social networking train, Chris, I still find myself resisting in some small ways. It is such a new paradigm and there is so much to learn some days it's exhausting. But your note about how you "devoured" the user comments at Amazon really strikes a chord...of course, I do the same thing! You are so right....I get it!... My resistance is shrinking more and more....thanks for you guidance on this adventure.
  • What you're describing, Chris, is how social science research used to proceed before the tyrannical rein of quantitative methodologies.

    Sociologists and anthropologists used to wander through the social world with eyes and ears open, brains working to suss out emerging (as well as existing) networks of social relations. We also used to pay attention to the way information was conveyed from heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind and sometimes from heart-to-mind-to-heart.

    This is only a fraction of what occurs to me as I become more involved with using social media. Very exciting to see this "paradigm shift." I view it as restoring social worlds that somehow got lost. Somehow? I have my theories about that, too!

    As for Amazon, as an author (who also works on behalf of other authors) I find myself regularly pitching...a fit...to get what needs to be on the screen actually on the screen. That, however, is a whole other discussion.

    Thanks for all you're doing to advance this important conversation.
  • Chris,

    Indeed, to broaden my perspective I sometimes also run some 'rabbit trails'. The book 'slide:ology' is great example;

    Garr Reynolds ('PresentationZen') considers this one of the finest books on making and executing presentations. Bought this when I ran into it at the bookstore.
    Amazing book, and very inspiring!

    I also find examples of inspiring presentations at http://www.slideshare.net (click on 'most favorited')

    Regards,

    Jeroen de Miranda
  • GypsyOwl
    Ditto What April said "December 31, 1969 at 4:33 pm April Russo
    I live for "click adventures". I just don't always document them like I should."

    Thank You Chris,
    I always devour your posts and appreciate your style.

    Deborah Bryan
    GypsyOwl
  • Chris,
    You have validated what I heard recently on a 10 minute video presentation by Jay Abraham (famous modern day marketing guru). In Jay's presentation, he told how he now writes sales letters by searching Amazon for books dealing with his key topics. He uses editor comments and user feedback to find out the key concerns of the market and to then form the key points of his sales letter. Very ingenious.

    Looking forward to more of your insights.
    Gerald
  • zenmom
    Absolutely. There is a time for focused research and there is a time for surfing. Some of the best experiences come from letting the wave take you to new places.
  • Heather
    Rabbit holing seems to be the only way I learn anything, much less coming up with anything interesting to write about.
  • I didn't know I was a Rabbit Holer, but that I am. This blog just boosts my natural tendencies to follow the many seredipitous and divergent paths of other readers. I've got several stacks of books I've ordered and read parts of because of RHing.
  • Ian
    I'm a bibliophile, and I find myself falling down the Amazon rabbit-hole quite frequently. It can be a lot of fun to find new topics of interest, and books on topics I would have never thought to read. Or even topics that are applicable to some research I am doing that I may not have encountered.

    User feedback is extremely powerful, true, but there definitely needs to be a process to ensure that feedback is honest and useful. Amazon has refined their comments over time so now other users can vote feedback up or down, but I still think that the whole system can be further whittled to a fine tool.
  • I hadn't heard the term "Rabbit Holer," but the term hits home! I enjoy discovering books, movies, or music by diving deep into the rabbit hole (on Amazon, IMDB, or MyStrands) and there are times when it is the journey that makes the discovery great. Great music or books are great in and of themselves, but the intellectual adventure involved in finding them is the really exciting part.

    I just started working for Strands, which is a company that specializes in recommendation systems, and as I've used, explored, and developed the company's products, I realized that the real values that we offer to users are: exploration, adventure, and discovery. I don't want to listen to what's popular... I want to listen to what moves my soul!

    In terms of education, I've heard a teacher express the difference between simply explaining a concept to a student and a student discovering the concept for themselves. The joy of self discovery is incredibly fulfilling, whereas memorizing facts is just laborious.

    Regarding the value of user reviews... the game has changed significantly. When buying online, most buyers will only be willing to make a purchase after about 4 or 5 peer reviews. The Internet has changed the way we research products.

    Great post... I recently found this blog (while tumbling down a rabbit hole... or was it chasing geese?), and I am enjoying it thoroughly.
  • Vic Rowe
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