Responses to:
Online Information Overload – and How to Cope

Submitted 23 September 2010, Anonymously
I find it hilarious that the first response referred us to a website - another piece of information for us to handle. Was the irony intentional?

Submitted 17 September 2010 by Rob Jackson, Director of Development and Innovation, Volunteering England
I just read this excellent article in the Guardian Online newspaper here in the UK and thought I'd share it by way of a response to this Hot Topic. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/13/charlie-brooker-google-instant

Submitted 15 September 2010 by Randy Tyler, Online Volunteering Program Developer, Winnipeg, Canada
With ever-evolving technologies enabling even easier content generation, digital noise is only going to increase. In my 15 years of extensive Internet use, I have a few observations (and suggestions therein) that may help manage this burgeoning digital noise phenomena:

  • Recognition and Acceptance: Recognize and accept the Internet, and the content therein, is massive, changing, indigestible (in a lifetime) and without clearly defined road maps.
  • Internet Use: set realistic time limits with accompanying goals and objectives for Internet use (whether searching or social networking)
  • Digital Curators: pursue a manageable number of (trusted and referred) digital curators as sources of information (such as trusted Web sites, Blogs, RSS feeds and Twitter followers)
  • Analysis and Syntheses: acquisition of skills and knowledge that allow one to separate digital noise (e.g., opinion, unscientific research methods) from facts, has never been more necessary.

Good luck!

Submitted 9 September 2010 by Lois Milne, CVA, Morton Plant Mease BayCare Health System, Clearwater, FL USA
Timely topic, I agree. Recently I put myself on a tech diet and am doing well. The resources on line etc. are wonderful and just like the menu at a restaurant I can select what I need. It gives me access to resources I would nnot otherwise have.

Submitted 5 September 2010 by Sue Hine, Wellington, New Zealand
A timely topic Susan. I have been all afternoon researching information and articles for a presentation tomorrow, and opened your Hot Topic as a diversion before shutting down the computer. You have just got me booted up again!

A few months ago I wrote a creative non-fiction piece about learning to use the computer, from the computer's point of view. The computer sighed and groaned because the student (me) was such a dummy, and was fixated on using pen and paper. Here's the last few lines:

"Nearly thirty years later I'm old and in my dotage. I've been superseded by new whizz-bang kids offering facilities and software that were never dreamed of in my day. Old folks like me get sent off to collection depots for re-cycling, but I have found a rest-home in my protege's basement garage. She calls me friend for what she has learned from me and I take pride in her competence. But the lesson I will take to my grave is that I am just a machine. I could teach people according to the model of my time, yet that is nothing compared to the human brain which goes on learning without ever being re-invented."

Now I shall go off for a healthy digital detox - a walk in the late afternoon sunshine of a beautiful Wellington day.

Submitted 2 September 2010 by H. Roberts, President, Blankie Depot, Keyport, NJ USA
Whether I'm at work, standing in line for coffee, catching up with friends, making a date with family or coordinating a volunteer activity - digital detox comes up. The latest water cooler convo. I think for many of us "of a certain generation" the detox wish arrives eventually and we get nostalgic for the way things use to be. I'm old enough to remember Mitch Miller and modern enough to recognize my college age son was born in a digital diaper.

When paper still ruled the roost, piles of outgoing and incoming correspondence, spreadsheets, paper clips and sticky tabs littered my desk. Filing was my daily dilemma and catching up on telephone calls my nighttime routine. These days are gone and I'm going to really miss paper. Video killed the radio star and Kindle may kill sharing a beautiful book.

Back in 1981, I bought my first expensive clunker of a computer and taught myself how to switch from an electric, self-correcting typewriter to a keyboard then mouse navigator and devoured whatever basic software I could find. Ten years later, I found myself visiting the big, world-wide web! I spent hundreds of hours virtual. An embarrassing about of time. Learning, reading, sorting through. When email became available service in my area, I jumped onboard and realized I didn't have anyone (yet) to reach using it. I worked the "wonders of emailing" into every conversation I could hoping to entice a friend or two into a new expense that would rock their world. Most people thought I was enjoying a fad. "What do you need THAT for?" "I'll never trust email!" were common statements. Ha!

Some fad. Today my file cabinet only contains copies of the most important hard documents while 95.9% of my working life rests on disk, flash drive or virtual filing cabinet. I read through 250 emails of value to me every week and respond to half immediately. The landline is a dinosaur (I still pay for) and my mobile unit needs constant charging. Everything from wedding invites, birth announcements, family photos, work assignments, payroll, bill pay, shopping, school info, calling in sick, travel arrangements, AND my volunteer leadership life have gone digital. I've accepted this is the only way to keep plugged in. The irony comes when a friend spends a hour writing an email instead of calling me. I still call. I still use notecards and stamps to say thank you.

What once was a large pool of diehard non-tech users in my circle has recently exploded into the arms of Facebook friends, Twitter notes, blog hobbyists and web site owners. You Tube has forever changed how we view privacy. The words "new," "latest," and "upgrade" have a miniscule shelf life.

So, how do I feel about the information highway today? I take what I need from the best tools available and ignore the rest. I never forget its a tool. I refrain from mindless emails, I don't own a Facebook or Twitter account, I don't keep the cell phone on 24/7 anymore and I take email protcols seriously. I'm learning to say NO more often and haven't missed a beat. I'm still as plugged in as I need to be. Family, friends, volunteers, colleagues know when and where to find me and when I don't wish to be found :)

I do not believe in recruiting volunteers to handle my leadership issues or personal life. Everyone is overloaded. Volunteers are brought on to support clients, mission, day to day commitments in real time on a personal, non-digital way. Emails are utilized for org. announcements and quick notes only.

I am embracing recent studies supporting digital detox, rethinking the true effectiveness of multitasking and reexamining quality over quantity. I am paying close attention to online privacy regulations, cataloging of online information, marketeers who corrupt the value of online audiences, the selling of our personal information and the number of updates needed to keep my PC safe from harm.

I am expecting the eventual national announcement for a "Digital Detox Day."

Submitted 2 September 2010 by Andy Fryar, Director of OzVPM, Adelaide, Australia
Thanks as always for a great HT Susan. You are absolutely right, the only way to find time these days for professional development/reading etc is to schedule the time to do it. I know that when people talk to me about not having the time to do it, I challenge them with the question 'Do you have time NOT to do it?"

In relation to managing email, I've heard several examples now of large companies who now allocate specific times during the work day when email will be read and accessed. The rest of the time it stays off.

At the end of the day it is about time management, and remembering we don't HAVE to be a slave to the never ending 'ding' of another email arriving!

Submitted 1 September 2010 by Ruth Reko, Senior Volunteer Consultant, Lutheran Services in America, Chicago, IL USA
As one of the Searcher volunteers I feel frustrated when I find something really cool and my Director is too busy on her other umpteen searches to hear from me about the topic that she asked me to search in the first place. Your article is good as far as it goes on this "new" volunteer role but help us know what to do with the information we've now been overwhelmed with.

Susan Responds:
Thank you so much for posting your observation, Ruth. Getting the volunteer perspective is great. I advise that you print out this Hot Topic, your response, and my reply and use them as a discussion starter with your director. This should certainly get her attention (or show her only my original essay and protect yourself!). What you need to do together is plan how you will report and schedule when. I recommend developing a very simply form (online or on paper) for you to complete as you find things worth her attention. Use a grid so that the URL stands out, then the name of the site, then what you found so useful. Add anything else you think you want to report. Maybe every other week you submit the report to her, organizing the sites on the form from top priority down. However, at least once a month, set aside some time for the two of you to meet and talk about what you’re finding – even if it means sitting next to your director at a computer and showing her. Of course, if you find something really worthwhile, agree that you may share your find right away. Hope this helps!

Submitted 1 September 2010 by Don Rhodes, Don Rhodes & Associates Limited, Omakau, Central Otagom, New Zealand
Excellent article, and a timely review of why information overload needs some answers. What makes it get even worse is that all the 'experts' out there especially in the fields of management and similar, are exhorting us to sign up to Facebook and Twitter and God-Knows-What-Else otherwise our businesses will fail miserably. The truth is, we need to tell them go find some new fad, and concentrate on the suggestions you put up. Well done. Cheers.

Submitted 1 September 2010 by Marty O'Dell, CVA, Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley, Dayton, Ohio USA
More is not always better. The internet, like everything else has to have boundaries in our life. Computers come with on/off switches for a reason, as do phones, ipods, and other electronic devices. Find some reliable sources of information subscribe to them and delete the others. If you receive the same data in ten different formats isn't it the same data. Be choosy about your time.

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