Article: Got Playlist Anxiety? You're not alone

Got Playlist Anxiety? You're not alone - By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com

This article describes a study about the way that people monitor the playlists that they allow others to have access to on the intranet in a work environment.

In general, people tend to filter based on what they think that other people might think - the playlist becomes a way of displaying identity. They'll take out songs that they think might be too quirky. On the other hand people, when they view other people's lists, don't actually attach too much significance. People tend to use the lists to try out music that people they know have recommended by searching the intranet and finding the song to listen to.

It's an interesting study and points to a couple of issues that seem to recur with the way that people work - we listen to WOM(word of mouth) as our first source, and we're more concerned about the way other people see us than we are at looking at the way other people present themselves.

I think it's also interesting that playlists (which are often put up from winamp on to lj's and the like) are being used as a display for identity. The music we listen to can act as a code that people can use to realise if they are like us - or different.