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It's *information* overload, not email overload

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I am so tired of reading blog posts that point the finger at email and imply that the problem is that we have too much email and that the solution are other technology streams, 1:many communication, etc.

Guess what folks, email has 1:many too, call them groups or mailing lists or distribution lists or whatever you want, but they are a contributor to the information overload, not a solution.

What we have is a human problem, not anything inherent to email. The lower the barrier to entry for a communications channel (+ the ease of reaching others - i.e. is the audience out there listening) the more it will be used. It doesn't matter if it goes over SMTP or SIP or HTTPs or whatever the Next Big Thing will be.

This is the first rational post I've seen about this issue. We need 'goldpan' solutions - and not just for email but for all these newer communication streams.

And to be clear, I don't think Microsoft (or anyone else) has goldpan solutions yet. We have pieces of sieves, but we still ask users to put them together and come up with their own goldpan. I do believe we'll get there eventually, but progress seems like molasses at times.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Following on to my short rant yesterday , I wanted to share some information from a survey we did about

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    KC had a post recently about " E-mail overload " - so called, and arguing we shouldn't point

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    PingBack from http://www.tips.luiscorreia.com/its-information-overload-not-email-overload/

  • Anonymous
    May 07, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 07, 2008
    Forgot to mention, I am sure there are people who configure their Outlook inboxes with rules and folders, and then are self-disciplined about not checking the folders that they have compartmentalized some content into. I don't have that level of self-discipline. When that little pop-up shows up in the lower right corner, I'm compelled to look and see what message just came in. 99 times out of 100 I then go ahead and read the message anyway.

  • Anonymous
    May 07, 2008
    well, xobni (http://www.xobni.com/) helps at least a little bit. cheers, Jan

  • Anonymous
    May 20, 2008
    The reason email is so frequently associated with information overload is largely a side effect of its pervasiveness and robustness resulting in overuse. Besides the personal burden, companies are footing the bill for wasted IT resources and lost productivity. Permessa just published a white paper titled: <a href="http://www.permessa.com/whitepapers/Email_Best_Practices>"6 Best Practices That Reduce Email Overload and Costs"</a>. One largely unknown fact is that in most companies fewer than 1% of all employees are causing 80% of all email volume. There are also a number of related posts on my blog: http://www.emailtide.com/category/information-overload/

  • Anonymous
    May 20, 2008
    Here is the correct link to the previous post: http://www.permessa.com/whitepapers/Email_Best_Practices

  • Anonymous
    June 25, 2008
    I totally agree. Even though I work on one of those perceived "other solutions"... e-mail is not the problem.