So Much Can Be Lost Through Automation

As I go through the management of my 60+ research sites that make up my API Evangelist network, I can't help but think about how I can automate specific aspects of the process. This is the way my custom built platform works, I have workflows and tasks I accomplish each day, and as I have time, I will write scripts and automate where I can.

In an ordinary week I will process hundreds of blog feeds, tweets and new APIs, and sometimes I’m tempted to automated my curation, sorting, tagging and other aspects of what I do, but then I find valuable nuggets on company sites, blog and other places. Valuable insight that my algorithms wouldn't necessarily find, things that I can use in stories across the API Evangelist network, as well as expand my own knowledge.

Each day I work to strike this balance between manually monitoring the API space, and automating what I do. I am constantly re-evaluating whether something is better automated, and at what point does something need my critical eye.

As I write this post, I can't help but think about all the talk of automation via the web, mobile apps and Internet of things (Iot) each day, and hope that we all can find restraint, and apply critical thinking around how we best use Internet enabled technology in our lives—minimizing what we lose by automating our worlds.