Has this changed in the last year/three years/decade?
Do you feel overexposed?
I am inclined to think that the responses to these questions will be all over the place. Personally, I consume news in almost all of its forms; the way I consume changes on an almost weekly basis; and yes, I do feel a bit overexposed to it all.
Almost since my first time logging on to the World Wide Web (I miss calling it that), I have been searching for my comfort zone in terms of taking in the details of the world around me. The problem is news outlets are a shape shifting mass which does not allow you to put it in a defined area (much like the Smoke Monster in Lost or B.O.B from Monsters vs. Aliens). One quick example: less than a year ago, no one was Twitter-ing. Today every anchor, outlet, blogger and man on the street has a Twitter handle. Even if you had found your style of consumption and were comfortable with how it worked, you are now faced with this new medium. The Twitter value debate is one for another day, but it is impossible to say there is nothing missed by not being on Twitter. There are simply ideas and trends which explode on Twitter and do not make it to the mainstream media (or it takes a different shape or is delayed. Remember when the Tiger Woods story hit over Thanksgiving? Twitter was the first to know).
These changes happen all the time in our current world. Do we sit back on our old ways? This cannot be the best way to proceed. Imagine someone who hasn't adapted since just ten years ago, in 2000. This hypothetical person is watching the evening news, reading the local paper, getting some feedback through emails and this is about it (ie: your Mom). In only 10 years, a modern landscape has been created. Our example cave-person here is at a disadvantage. They must adapt, at least marginally, to have a true grasp on the world around them.
Juxtaposed to this idea is where I live. As just a wee lad of 13 in the year 2000, I have almost grown mature alongside my sibling, the Internet (do we still capitalize this like it's a proper place? hmmm). As all of these new outlets emerge, I am right there to hop on board and take the ride. Facebook/MySpace want me to have my own page? Sign me up, I'm flattered. Google wants to control everything I do? Absolutely, here, take my birth certificate. Twitter has micro-updates? Yes, I need to know what Wolf Blitzer does after the Situation Room is over. As an info-junkie, I love everything about how we are evolving. Give me as many ways to get as much information as possible.
So far so good. But more recently, I have stepped back behind the fourth wall to analyze my info/news situation. Me thinks things might get a little uneasy soon.
You see, I have a presumption that my mind is much like a large storage building (or, say, a Sam's Club back room). A building that is large and slowly growing, but ultimately limited in space. There is only so much a human can truly have a working understanding of. As a young person, I should not fill my storage area in the near future. How the problem begins is I have more delivery trucks approaching the storage building than past generations (our parents and grandparents were like the local farmer's market in comparison). I probably have a few more trucks than the average person even in my demographic. To make things worse, I have smashed my fist onto the "express shipments" button recently. I listen to podcasts on 2x speed, I'm learning to speed read, I multi-task all the time. I have a 7-lane expressway into my mind for most of the day. This can only last for so long. I fear that I may fall into the trap described brilliantly by one of my favorite philosophers, one Homer J. Simpson. Simpson once complains:
"...(E)very time I learn something new it pushes something old out of my brain. Remember that time I learned how to make wine and forgot how to drive?"A true visionary, no doubt, but the last thing I want is to fall into this trap.
A crossroads is upon me. Shall I take the road in which I slow down the express shipments and cut back on some of the deliveries OR shall I try to make the storage building expand at a quicker pace, thus handling the increased work load?
The simple-lifer in me has a definite opinion, but he has a constant debate with the mad man running the controls. My true passion in life is learning and knowing which makes it hard to slow down. In the end, though, it may be more effective to take in less and understand more. Only time will tell, but if you see a lanky, pale 23-year old muttering to himself walking down the street, just smile and walk by as this is a clear sign that I have lost my mind.
GRM
