Writing Tip: Are you overstuffed with content? I am
I think the one thing that I have noticed with the growth of social media is being simply overwhelmed. I am wondering if there is plainly too much content on the web now? It makes wonder how much content is added on the web each minute—it must be a staggering number! With everyone becoming their own channel, distributing original content and redistributing content—syndication—information is easily overwhelming times ten. I have noticed that streamwatching has become a new habit of mine. “Who said that? “ “That looks good.” “Yeah, I should follow her.” “I have to reply to that,”…the next thing I know, time has flown by, like I had a remote in my hand. I tried to reduce my load but it did not work.
Last year, I deleted one of my email accounts to decrease my subscriptions yet with aggregators, such as Google reader and applications like Yoono that connects my Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin account, I have gained more subscriptions than I have deleted. Also, I accepted a few free offers, which again, increased email to my box. Funny thing, I have an old account that I barely use for email subscriptions that still receives a fair amount of email subscriptions, mostly from writing and screenwriting magazines. Yet another account, yet more information, so I am thinking of some strategies to handle this information overload.
- Image via Wikipedia
Short-term I think one of my strategies will be to subscribe to a feed for a brief time. Yes, blogs grow and change, but do you really need all of that information? Not all the time. So, like gathering facts for a paper or a long article, I’ll try using a source for a brief time until the project is completed. I might even use a different reader to separate it from my long term sources.
Specific and in-depth sources Some sources are greater than others. Even though some blogs and websites expand their content to increase their readership, I think it is great when blogs and webs are focused. For instance, WebMd, an online database is mainly centered on medical information. All the information on the site connects back to health. Or blogs and webs can be further focused, like only concentrating on affiliate marketing, instead of SEO marketing which is broader. Thus, if you are looking to curtail your informational sources, seek blogs or webs that are in-depth; an inch wide, a mile deep rather than mile wide and an inch deep.
A limited system About a year ago, I listened to a non-fiction author speak about his process for writing and researching. He started his morning around 5 AM, reading three major newspapers and two magazines for two hours before he started to write. The writer gathered the rest of his information from various magazines, newspapers, and websites that he read on occasion. For writing projects, he collected specific resources and other information like interviews. He developed a good system for himself (a bit early for me) to keep abreast to current events, while maintaining his work schedule for writing. So, creating/having a system to maintain your information is important for not feeling overwhelmed.
