Teach Yourself with Google Alerts

When we first got the assignment to pick a curating tool, I was immediately drawn to Google Alerts. However, my over-analytical brain told me this wasn't sophisticated enough and I should try something I haven't ever used before, like Diigo, Listopia, or Stumbleupon. I'm not really sure why I thought that made sense. Fortunately, I had an epiphany as I was exploring these sits. These tools are very useful, but I realized that for what I was trying to focus on in my curating, Google Alerts was actually the perfect tool. Here is why:

My topic of research/curation: I am very interested in the idea of the relationship between humans and machines/the internet. I have started to explore the idea of Web 2.0 and how humans can make an impact on the internet through what we can contribute. But then I also started to get interested in the idea of DIY projects and how prevalent they are in human society. So, when we wants to learn how to do something on our own, or look for people/communities who have done the same thing, what is the first thing we do on the internet? Google it. Then, after we have created that something on our own or come up with a new idea, we can share it on the internet, making our mark and perhaps helping others to do the same.

I set up a few Google alerts that are emailed to me each day for queries such as "DIY", "self-directed learning", and "self education" to keep up with what the majority of people are finding when they search for similar things. Some of the things I have found are really interesting, like this blog post about the philosophy of self directed learning, or this one about a specific person's personal experience with self education. Some DIY projects are made to save you money, like this idea that, if it works for your needs, helps you with something practical. There are also smaller DIY ideas such as life hacks, which may or may not work, but we use the internet to get the idea out there and let people decide for themselves.

When we complete projects like these, we are filled with a sense of pride and satisfaction (assuming it worked out for you--if not, find another project!) and we want to share that feeling with someone. This is the same type of mindset for when we want to teach ourselves something new. When we find something that we really want to learn about, we will find a way to do it, and then share our product/project as well as the way we did it with others who may want to learn about the same thing, thus leaving our mark on Web 2.0.

So these ideas are all still floating around in my head, and I'm still organizing the idea as a whole, but what are your thoughts on Google Alerts? Do you know of any other curating tools that would work well with this idea?