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This article was curated by Jan Gordon
This piece was written by Evren Kiefer for Paper.li talking about a challenge we all face - information overload and how we streamline our diet. Or can we?
"Content doesn't have a season -- the feast is all year round" Overload or gluttony?
Here's what caught my attention:
“Information overload”, I hear you say, “we know that already”. Is it really the problem, though?
**As Clay Shirky argues in his talk “It’s Not Information Overload. It’s Filter Failure”, information overload is our new environment of plenty and not a problem that needs solving.
****It lies upon us to create internal and external filters to manage our time and attention because they are our most precious resources.
My commentary: I think this is most important for all of us, continually refining our ability to select only what we need and leave the rest. Today everyone is a publisher and everyone has an opinion. Aren't we suffering from meaning overwhelm as well?
What are your thoughts? How are you dealing with this? I'd love to hear your comments.
Selected by Howard Rhinegold and Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond
Read Full article here: [http://bit.ly/wkij56]
Via Kelly Hungerford, Howard Rheingold, janlgordon
It is the act of going back and forth between scanning quickly - and then going in for a deep dive and reflection. I watch the stream. I check things out and if I find something that is like "wow" - my audience would love this - or "wow" slightly different take or framing on the topic - then I add in my collection,think about it, and share.
The thing I'm trying to fight - in part because I curate many different topics. I tend to focus on different streams of keywords or sources for particular topics. But I might find something through serendipity that is on another topic I curate and it is good, but I'm not focusing on that topic now. So, sometimes I grab and have in a holding place until I look at it in more depth.
All this to ask you about:
What is your practice for curating multiple topics?
What do YOU do to avoid meaning overload?
For me, it all begins with managing my attention and establishing criteria for selecting content that aligns with my brand message and my purpose for being online. This is my compass. My focus for the day that fits this framework and everything flows from there. I love Howard Rhinegold’s work and the mindmap is brilliant. I’m finding these to be excellent resources in helping me to refine this process and I feel I'm definitely on the right track.
I have some quiet time before I ever go to the computer and focus on my agenda for the day. It’s like going into a library. Everything you could ever want is there but if you don’t have a hypothesis, you can drown in the sea of knowledge and information.
I cover lots of topics but there’s a recurring theme that connects them and it revolves around the evolving world of curation and the many forms it takes; how we have to learn to curate our selection not only of content and information but activity such as social networking as well. It's learning to manage my time and evaluate how I spend it. I ask myself if I do this, will it take me towards or away from my overall plan, the answer always gets me back to where I need to be.
As you know, we can schedule priorities and life comes charging in and sometimes I have to shift to do something that needs to be taken care of. Even if this happens, I can get back to my theme for the day at some point. I don't hold the reigns too tightly on this, it's just there to keep me grounded. If I find something as you say serendipitously and it’s off my daily plan, if it’s really a "wow", (again, here I've established some criteria for this, otherwise, I'd find many wows throughout the day), I stop and pay attention to it to see if it’s something I should work on. For me, there’s a certain rhythm to all of this and intuition plays a part. It takes practice and trusting yourself and not over-thinking things.
As for meaning overload, there are two things I will do If a piece is particularly heady or difficult to read, I will search for the simple thread that relates to the message I am seeking to put out to my audience. The other aspect is more simple. If I feel that my head is just too full, I have to step away for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, maybe grab a drink of water. Sometimes meaning overload is just brain overload, and I really need to know when to step away and find my way back.