Information Overload: how much is enough?

On: November 2, 2012
About Alex Manole
Started to love the online environment when launched an urban culture magazine in Romania, called HipMag.ro (www.hipmag.ro) and then decided to upgrade to Pro and work in the industry of digital advertising. First came Sanoma Hearst Romania, followed by media planning (& a bunch of interesting other stuff) at Zenith Communication. Got a BA in Communication Studies and Journalism and currently in a Master's Program in New Media @ UvA.

Website
http://www.hipmag.ro    

If you’re reading this post, on this blog, your interests clearly relate to the wonderful realm of new media. Your notifications icon on Facebook is probably blinking to indicate that you have some messages pending and there’s a cue of at least ten tabs opened in your browser, waiting for your attention. A huge wave of information is about to flood your brain and you’re thinking to Google some more, because you don’t feel like you’ve grasped enough knowledge for one day. Waking up tomorrow you’ll realize that you can’t remember 80% of all the articles you’ve read the night before, let alone their content. This is information overload – a reality of the modern man, the constant need to be in touch with everything that is happening, something similar to a disease, a concept that we have to master in order to cope with the never ending stream of newness and knowledge.

Geert Lovink’s book “Networks Without a Cause: A Critique of Social Media” touches the subject of information overload and offers some very interesting insights on the causes of this phenomenon and possible solutions for integrating the platforms responsible for the flood of information into our everyday lives. Based on this very insightful book we have created a short documentary that desires to research the extent of information overload and its repercussions. Luckily, we have benefited from interviewing some experts in the field, but have also listened to the people’s voice, out on the street. Take a look at our clip below and let us know what you think:


Experts interviewed:

Geert Lovink – author of “Networks Without a Cause: A critique of Social Media”

Bogdana Butnar – industry manager @ Google Romania, prominent blogger and tweeterer

Erik Slofstra – author of “Pretty Social – 100 Days Without Social Media”

Jaap Jansen – the Tweeter King of The Hague, most influential journalist on Dutch Tweeter

Ton van Eerden – General Practitioner

 

Student team behind the project:

Wieneke van Wucht

Stijn van Wonderen

Sonia Kolasinka

Diana Necula

Alexandru Manole

 

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