Information Overload
As I was writing my last blog post about “The Need for Storytelling Skills“, the connection to the problem of Information Overload surfaced.
Wikipedia attributed the term “Information Overload” to Alvin Toffler:
which refers to an excess amount of information being provided, making processing and absorbing tasks very difficult for the individual because sometimes we cannot see the validity behind the information
I remember…in the beginning… of the Internet and World Wide Web.
As a freelance “private computer tutor”, I used to go to people’s houses and helped them set up their first family PC, introduced them to Word Processing, set up Quicken for their personal finances and helped them select from the first “edutainment” programs for their children .
Many of my clients, friends and neighbors used AOL as their ISP (Internet Service Provider). What frustrated me though was how AOL’s shell (browser) was perceived as “THE Internet” by many of them. AOL’s News, Games, Bulletin Board, Lifestyle, Homework Help, etc. sections was where many families were going to search, read and browse the Internet.
Image by verbeeldingskr8
It bothered me, because I felt that the open stream and choices of information that was available from the web, was being filtered, edited and condensed to fit AOL’s choices. What would be placed on the main site, which links would be included, etc. was not under my control. When I mentioned this concern to people, many responded that that was the way they liked it. They did not know where to find the information online and appreciated AOL’s service to make it more manageable for them. They already felt “Information Overload” back in 1995.
I do know, that I don’t want anyone to make decisions for me WHAT kind of information I should or should not be seeing. I want that to be my choice. Since I have the choice to be able to get most information free and at lightning speed, I also have the “Qual der Wahl“, the “Agony of Choice”, when it comes to:
- Where do I get information?
- When do I just skim over information and when do I need to be more thorough when looking at sources?
- What kind of media do I need to include to get a more well rounded pool of information?
- When do I have enough information and when do I stop looking for more information?
- Which sources do I trust for information?
- How do I evaluate sources of and information in itself?
- How do I deal with the knowledge, that I will never ever be able to look at ALL the information out there? And be ok with that…
Chris Pirillo mentions his solution to Information Overload at 7:25 min:
That is the future, that is the solution for me. Information overload… turning to my friends. YOU are my solution and I am very grateful that Internet exists to help me get to information. I am grateful that you exist to help me make sense of that information as it relates to me.
[...]
I have so many people that I love following that I can’t take it all in. So I rely on you to tell me what is good.
Wes Fryer , Moving at the Speed of Creativity, wrote an interesting post recently: “How are you dealing with TMI (Too Much Information) ?”
Google Reader, Diigo/Delicious, my blog and Twitter account are my best friends when it comes to filtering, accessing, sharing and collaborating with digital information today– but I’m the first to admit things ARE overwhelming and it’s easy to get overwhelmed in the sea of information.
He seems to be in agreement with Chris Pirillo that the human factor that connects us through tools to the information is what helps us deal with information overload.
While searching for information to write this post about “Information Overload” 
, I asked my Twitter Network, searched other blogs on Google Blog Search and my Google Reader. I looked through presentations at SlideShare, video clips on YouTube and images on Flickr.
Too much “stuff is coming up”. I could go on and on looking for more information. I am wondering:
- What backs up my train of thought?
- What brings in new perspectives?
- How does it connect to my blog post?
- Does the connection make sense?
- Is it relevant?
Image by Will Lion
Information overload is a fact of life today.
Are you looking to machines and program tools to help you, find, filter and organize all of it or are you relying more and more on humans to help you cope with all the information that is spraying like water out of a fire hydrant?
How do you deal with it? What tools do you use to minimize it? What about the human factor? What are your thoughts?
Email This Post 
Print This Post
VERY relevant! First of all, the images you have used to illustrate this post are so powerful and say so much.
There are so many factors that I almost can’t focus my comment–that, too, is IO (information overload).
Here are a few things that popped to the surface of my mind–
First of all, we all have our own, unique ways of dealing with TMI.
What might be too much for me might be ok for someone else.Â
One thing that I notice is how much I pull back over the summer. I don’t read as much online, not on twitter very much, read more fiction, and work out more. One of the images, of the woman sitting cross-legged and centered with words all around, really stood out for me as how I feel about my summer break.
Another thought- I notice that my attention span is not what it used to be. I jump around online- maybe skimming a blog post or watching just a minute or two of a video. I am still able to make meaning from the jumping around, but I wonder if I am becoming more superficial in my understandings of things or if this is just the way of the world with hyperlinked everything.
I came across your blog post through Twitter, the word “information overload” caught my interest. Why? Because I am suffering from it. However, initially I was planning to write an important and difficult e-mail to my employer, so reading your blogpost can be called procastination. I spent 5 minutes reading your post and now I am even writing a comment. Funny enough, this is what makes information overload – the abundance of information that we consider important, interesting, relevant.
But what is relevant about your blogpost? It states that information overload is a problem and shows images that illustrate this problem. It analyzes how you select information. It mentions some tools that might help channeling and selecting information (but don’t these tools, which bring us even more relevant, interesting information, rather add to the problem?). And it gives us the hint that the human factor can be a soultion.
But wouldn’t the solution to information overload be to not read your post in the first place? Your post interests me as it adresses a problem that I have, and it gives me some soothing, and a possibility to express my thoughts – but no solution. At the same time I know that the real solution for me would be to resist reading interesing blog posts and stick to the information that I need for my work. This comment will be one of the many that vanish in the nirvana of the blogosphere without any impact on my life besides the one, that it’s almost too late now to write that damn e-mail…
I wrote a post similar to this, not quite as in depth, but about information overload nonetheless. I’ve certainly come to the conclusion that you have. Information overload is just a part of life. http://chadlehman.com/?p=206
[...] in The Need for Storytelling Skills in the 21st century. In addition to finding a way to conquer information overload, one of the reasons might be the ability to adapt, tweak and make digital storytelling fit with so [...]
[...] connected in order for us to make sense of it. Otherwise it will just be a pile of information and information overload will set [...]