Blogs/ Websites with focus on information overload
- ManagingIO.com
- A Feed is Born - RSS as the redeemer of humanity from IO? Blog about RSS, webfeeds and information overload
- Communication Overload – Another blog devoted to IO
Articles worth reading
- NY times article pointing to the $650 billion cost estimate of information overload published by a US research firm. The estimate might be still too low though.
- Information onslaught – IO is even bad for your health.
- Plus, it makes you stupid: Emails ‘pose threat to IQ’ and Why texting harms your IQ
- Sometimes it also turns nasty: Being Held Hostage by Information Overload
- But not enough with that, it might even kill you: Information Overload Is Killing You and Your Productivity
- If we didn’t do it before: Informing ourselves to death – Well-written article on the subject by Neil Postman
- Information overload – Nice article on IO by William Van Winkle
- Data smog: newest culprit in brain drain – Psychologists also say IO is bad. Now if that’s no proof
- Combating Information Overload – Includes a history section on IO. How it all started…
- The Tyranny of Email – Correct, it’s a pain. Or is it? Tyranny revisted
- Too much information? – Yes, indeed. Looks at it from a marketing perspective.
- Internet suffering from information overload – So not only the users but the internet itself. Includes some good comments on how information will be structured in the future (directories vs. tagging)
Studies and papers on IO
- How much information? – Study that attempts to estimate how much new information is created each year
- IO’s impact – Report on the effects of information overload in the UK and worldwide
- Desperately seeking: Helping hands and human touch – Looking at potential solutions to IO with a focus on agent-like applications, improvements in the information chain and information brokering
- The role of contextual clues in the creation of information overload (pdf) – Study focuses on IO due to email
- Information Overload, Retrieval Strategies and Internet User Empowerment (pdf) – Paper on information overload and search engines
- A Framework for Information Overload Research in Organizations (pdf) – How to analyze IO in organisations. Rather theoretical…
Practical tips on how to deal with IO
- Lifehack.org – Popular blog with tips on how to increase productivity (e.g. check out “Dealing with information overload”)
- Putthingsoff – Blog on productivity with a cute cat
- Managing Information – A practical guide on how to focus on the information that is really required
- Information Overload: The Blogger’s Worst Enemy and 8 Ways to Avoid It – Tips for Bloggers on how to deal with IO
- How to reduce information overload – Useful tips
- Eight steps to thriving on information overload – As the title says…
- Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload – Also have a look at Tips for Overcoming Email Overload
- Handling Information Overload for Lawyers – They are different, that’s why they need special care
- 21 Tips to deal with information overload – Useful tips!
- Other blogs on productivity: Productivity501 and Simple Productivity Blog
Other resources
- Information Overload Newsletter – Newsletter with articles on information overload, however many articles on other subjects too
- Change and Information Overload – Article on the negative effects of information overload (published on Feb. 19th 1999, but still true…)
- Article on Softpanorama.org – Including some interesting statistics on the subject (although a little outdated)
- Fighting information overload – Article on knowledge management software (a little outdated too, 2001…)
