Week 6–

Liam Justiniano

I found Monica Chin’s article “File Not Found” extremely interesting! This is not something that I was aware was a “problem”. I use GoogleDrive for basically everything file based, because I had chromebooks in my middle school and that was the easiest application for us to use and it’s what I learned. I was thrilled to get to organize my folders my class and colors and assignments with GoogleDrive. The folders within folders, or “directory” style of management makes absolute sense to me. 

However, I also understand the laundry basket method. It gets to a certain point in the semester where I can no longer find the 30 seconds required to create a document and put it in its correct folder. It gets put in the general space of the “Dig.Writing.2026” folder to never be actively sorted through again. I just pray that I put a formal enough or clear enough title on my documents so that I can easily search it. 

I think the ability to search has also greatly impacted the understanding and valueof the directory system. In a way of trying to streamline the directory style file management and make it more user-friendly it kind of gave way to “mis-use” of the directory system or cheapening of it. 

Something I’m really glad is brought up about the lack of file management understanding amongst newer generations of students is the fact that they may just be using it in a different way.

I put quotes around “problem” and “mis-use” because I really don’t see this as an extremely alarming issue. At worst I see it as unorganized college students, I don’t see it as an overall failing to internet and file education or a reflection of the laziness of the new generation. I think that with the consideration that we can search for our documents and that oftentimes these systems will have a recently opened or edited tab the need to properly organize our files seems almost obsolete. Why spend those extra 30 seconds to put it in the correct folder? You’ll possibly spend less time just searching for the document by name than opening up folder within folder within folder. The search bar basically solves the same issue as the folder system was designed to fix. I think that students now are just optimizing their time. 

I think it would be interesting to see a perspective on this that frames searching for files as the “new way” to do things. It would be interesting to research and understand the differences in how people use the same systems, because there may be a possibility that these students aren’t “wrong” in how they use the system. There’s a chance that the generation that grew up alongside these systems may have a different and optimized understanding of how to use the internet. Maybe searching for files in a few years and the “laundry basket” method as Chin describes it will be the new standard.