Thinking back to my initial usage of the Internet, I was amazed that even a site like Yahoo existed as I slowly surfed the web with my 14.4 kbps modem (1997?). It was neat that more and and more websites were forming for different organizations, newspapers, and personal homepages. Instant messaging was a big hit as well.
Now we have these same tools that have advanced tremendously, only with infinitely more available. They are bigger and badder. There are sites that aim to consolidate the most popular social networking sites into one simple interface. The only social networking site I knew of in 96-97 was Yahoo Chat. Now there is an abundance of sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Orkut, and so many more. Need help organizing life? There are magazines, blogs, online to-do lists, and who knows what else out there to help you. Need some opinions before buying? Sites like Epinions or Consumer Reports will do it for you. There’s just…a lot of stuff. Literally anything you want or can think of – it’s out there.
One of my new favorite gadgets on the Internet is my trusty RSS feed reader. From Bloglines to now Google Reader, I have learned to love and hate this online device. This is truly my one stop shop for information, and tons of it. I have bookmarked sites like Digg, friends’ blogs, National Geographic, BBC, recipe pages, etc., and it feeds me new information in real time. If I want more information, I look for more sites to add that have this feature. Most news and popular blog sites now do. Every time something new posts on these pages, I turn to Google Reader to view them. As you can imagine, there could be hundreds and thousands of posts to read if I don’t check periodically. That leads to my hate of information overload. OK, I don’t really ‘hate’ it, but let’s just say that too much of a good thing can be stressful!
In the midst of all this information, I often feel overwhelmed. I have magazines that pile up on my coffee table every month. Now that stresses me out. I subscribe to things like Real Simple, Shape, The New Yorker, and I barely have time to read them. It’s ironic because Real Simple is a magazine to, needless to say, simplify your life! And I hardly have time to read it?! How can I simplify my life, then? With Google Reader, I get the latest news headlines, but some turn out to be 10 page articles when I link to the actual page. That’s a bombshell right there. It’s information competing with other information. Perhaps I could live a simpler life like my mother does and disregard the many online gadgets and information available. She gets by somehow, but with less information about the latest happenings. Ignorance is bliss!
On the flip side, I could (and am trying to) learn how to prioritize and channel information more efficiently. There is indeed a lot of information out there, and the world would not end if I didn’t read all of it. Thoreau wrote “Simplify, Simplify” which for me in this case, translates to “Filter, Filter.” I crave more knowledge, but I think there are times when knowing a little about a lot is better than knowing a lot about a little.