Handling (weblog) information overload.

Lilia Efimova has started a discussion about handling weblog reading chores, asking whether aggregators are a good thing and whether weblogs lose their personal "voice" when aggregated.

In my opinion, this is a simple overload problem. People handle information overload in a number of ways, some of them dysfunctional to their purpose in gathering the information in the first place. For example, many people handle overload simply by "editing out" or "spacing" part of the information. Ironically, this means that the more information a person tries to access, the more they miss. Another way people handle information overload is to extend their working hours. A big chunk of the 60-70 hour workweek that has become normal for some people goes to trying to deal with information.

I use an aggregator and I am selective about which weblogs I read (about 50 currently). This helps tremendously.

I did a search on handling information overload. Predictably, most of the hits dealt with using software to manage information flow or with email overload. However, one article found so far addresses personal strategies, which seems to me to be closer to what is needed for dealing with weblogs: Overcoming Information Overload (InfoWorld, January 7, 2000).

More on this later. It's an interesting question.

11:08:23 PM