Drinking From a Fire Hose

By Deane Barker • •

In this post, the author explores the overwhelming nature of information overload in the digital age. They discuss the challenge of managing communication and staying informed amidst the constant influx of data. The post emphasizes the importance of discernment in selecting what information to engage with and offers strategies for coping with this deluge, highlighting the need for balance in consuming content effectively.

Generated by Azure AI on June 24, 2024

Are there RSS feeds you can’t keep up with? I have a few that I just can’t stay on top of due to posting volume. A friend of mine called it “drinking from a fire hose.” They are:

I find with these that whenever I open Bloglines, there are a couple dozen posts. I don’t have the time or inclination to read them all right then, so I leave them. Then, next time, there are more. Eventually Bloglines tops out at 200 unread posts, and I click on the blog title just to get rid of the unread and start over.

It’s a little heart-breaking, because all of them have such great content. But that’s something to consider when you’re running a blog. The automatic train of thought is, “I’ll just throw everything out there and people will read what they want.” Not true – too many posts can overwhelm people, and they consequently won’t read any. The volume of your content can render the quality of your content moot.

We’ve discussed posting volume before, and we’ve struggled with it around here. How many posts is too many? How many is just right? I used to shoot for 10 a day, but it wasn’t maintainable. I think we average three or four a day now.

What blogs do you enjoy, but you either don’t subscribe too or don’t read regularly because posting volume is too high?

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