Here’s a perspective on the amount of data and information that’s out there, and continues to be created every day…<\/p>\n
The amount of digital information created in 2010 (1.2 zettabytes) will equal 75 billion fully-loaded 16 GB Apple iPads, which would fill the entire area of Wembley Stadium to the brim 41 times (via Information-Management.com, May 2010)<\/p>\n
The amount of digital information created annually will grow by a factor of 44 from 2009 to 2020, as all major forms of media – voice, TV, radio, print – complete the journey from analog to digital (via EMC)<\/p>\n
Twitter is estimated to have 175 million users, generating 95 million tweets a day (via Twitter.com, Sep 2010)<\/p>\n
As of mid 2010, Facebook reports more than 500 million users worldwide\u00a0who\u00a0share more than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) each month (via Facebook.com)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Shocking statistics, aren’t they?\u00a0The question really is: How are you gearing up for it?<\/em><\/p>\n
Here’s what I think.\u00a0 The problem is only going to get worse in the years to come.\u00a0 There’s not much you and I can do about that.\u00a0 What we can<\/em> do, however, is develop the ability to filter out the noise from the music.<\/p>\n
That’s easier said than done, especially when you’re looking at “information overload” so large that no single phrase can adequately describe\u00a0how BIG the overload really is.\u00a0 We’ve all faced consequences of it, either by way of a burgeoning Inbox that refuses to quiet down to manageable levels, or via the endless barrage of tweets and status updates we have subscribed to, or even the always-on Blackberry culture that keeps us tethered to the office.<\/p>\n
For some, it may mean reducing the number of xml subscriptions in their newsreader, reviewing the number of twitterers to follow, or even unfriending some folks from their FB list, even if it means risking some “social quotient” in the bargain.\u00a0 For others, it may mean\u00a0changing their complusive habits, and slowly but steadily, learning the art of focusing on the essentials and ignoring the rest…\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever be our approach, we’re all going to have to make some tough choices.\u00a0 It’s the only way out.<\/p>\n