As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
Dealing with information overload on the Internet.
XX55XX
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
On an average day, I will visit at least 30 websites, read at least several dozen articles/blog posts, watch about a dozen videos on Youtube, and read/post on at least a 18 message boards.
This is killing my brain. You know, life on the Internet used to be much slower for me. Now, there is so much news and stuff out there that I am having difficulty keeping track of it all. Even though I have limited my consumption of media to just four categories: general news/politics (BBC, Al Jazeera), video games (message boards, GameSpot, Kotaku, The Escapist. Penny Arcade), My Little Pony (Equestria Daily, three MLP message boards), and technology (Anandtech, Engadget, Ars Technica, MacRumors, Neowin), there is an overwhelming flood of stuff to read, watch, debate about, and see every single day.
Before Youtube and Web 2.0 took over, it was much easier to digest all of this stuff. Now, there is so much noise out there that I don't feel bothered to keep track of it anymore. And I've ignored Facebook and Twitter a long time ago, since most of that stuff is junk anyways.
How do you guys deal with information overload? I wish I could grow some more synapses in my brain and make my days twice as long, but that isn't possible. Guess I might need to cut out some more stuff that isn't relevant to my life.
This is killing my brain. You know, life on the Internet used to be much slower for me. Now, there is so much news and stuff out there that I am having difficulty keeping track of it all. Even though I have limited my consumption of media to just four categories: general news/politics (BBC, Al Jazeera), video games (message boards, GameSpot, Kotaku, The Escapist. Penny Arcade), My Little Pony (Equestria Daily, three MLP message boards), and technology (Anandtech, Engadget, Ars Technica, MacRumors, Neowin), there is an overwhelming flood of stuff to read, watch, debate about, and see every single day.
Before Youtube and Web 2.0 took over, it was much easier to digest all of this stuff. Now, there is so much noise out there that I don't feel bothered to keep track of it anymore. And I've ignored Facebook and Twitter a long time ago, since most of that stuff is junk anyways.
How do you guys deal with information overload? I wish I could grow some more synapses in my brain and make my days twice as long, but that isn't possible. Guess I might need to cut out some more stuff that isn't relevant to my life.
XX55XX on
0
Posts
That is the most simple solution. But, you can only feel compelled to hear the noise (and I block out most of it, but there is still so much to hear/look at!)
Sometimes, I wish the Internet was never invented. My parents remark often at how much slower their lives were. If everyone else is willing to give it up, I'm game.
Well, good thing is, 90% of the web is junk.
Unfortunately, there is still 10% of stuff out there worth reading/watching, and it's still too much. For example, I read the Economist, Slate, The New York Times, Wired... Just so much stuff...
Like, the third MLP-related forum is probably not adding much new information compared to the first two (or one.) If you're already posting on PA, kotaku and the escapist, what's gamespot really doing for you? etc.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
I never got on Facebook or any of that shit either. I also don't play games on the internet anymore.
Television is the same. I don't watch it much anymore. More and more, I sit in a darkness, doing nothing, with a stew of tedium, melancholy and anxiety. It's like being born but born inside a dark cloud where there's no hope of sunshine.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
I think you're right. I used to post on just one MLP message board and left it at that, but that number expanded to three because I would go on those two other boards every Saturday to discuss/debate the newest episode.
As for news, I discover that most of the stuff I am reading on the BBC doesn't relate much to the geo-political matters that I care about the most, so perhaps just Al Jazeera will be fine.
As for computer hardware, I guess I can just cut it down to just Anandtech (since computer hardware reviews are so similar, for example, everyone said the same thing about Bulldozer).
I lived in a house for two years that purposely had no internet. It was good. I went to my university library or public libraries or friends houses. I still got ~2 hours of internet a day, and really that was more than enough 90% of the time. I'm... honestly not sure what I did with the rest of my time, but the compulsive stuff was rooted out. I'd like to return to that, though I don't see any easy way of doing so.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Yeah, rss reader has helped me a lot.
so much this. Of course, i read so many threads in this forum that it can become an all day thing (except on US weekends. because all of you have lives and that's not fair).
and then I hit the msnbc.com home page, cycle through the headlines, and then go from there. I sit on facebook because, well all my family and friends are back in the states and sometimes it's fun to harass them by wishing them happy birthday a whole 18 hours early (especially the one who are just now turning 30. so much fun!)
I will occasionally go and poke around on wikipedia if i find something of interest, but that's not often.
basically, cut things down.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
It's great.