Small is beautiful: moving away from large knowledge sharing communities such as Stackoverflow, niche knowledge sharing communities are emerging. Based around communal values of
Knowledge management used to be mostly restricted to the work environment and focused on personal productivity. With the rise of the passion economy and the proliferation of indie thinkers, a new wave of personal knowledge management tools is taking over the market. Users want more than utility tools. They want tools for thought.
“Information and communication technology’s most important contribution to knowledge sharing in communities consists of the realization of a shared information base (communality) and facilitating communication independent of time and place (connectivity).”
in public” mindset is the digital garden, where indie thinkers cultivate their knowledge in public. For instance, the use of Git-based solutions such as GitBook lets users explore the evolution of ideas, their contributors, and the various branches of knowledge being explored.
People are being paid to think. Indie thinkers spend their time asking questions, researching niche topics, connecting ideas, and share their newly acquired knowledge online for people to consume.
Beyond collecting and storing information, new tools for thought allow users to resurface, connect, and generate knowledge. Whether visual or textual, this new breed of tools encourage users to link their ideas together, find interesting patterns, and create original content based on their research.