Did you read In Defense of Filters and a Quieter Internet by Brad McCarty at TNW? The author talked about how he filters out noise from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. He uses a system of groups, lists, blockers, and keyword blocks.
In addition to those sources of noise, I am required to read a lot of email pitches and dozens of RSS feeds every day.
Years ago I took a speed reading class, and I still read fast. Plus, I’m a good skimmer. Those two skills help me with the daily onslaught.
I don’t block much of anything on Twitter. Instead, I skim through my main feed every once in a while looking for gems. I do have Twitter lists that help me track the voices I really want to hear. I’ve talked before about how much I like seeing everything collected for me from my Women in Web Education list into a paper.li format. Paper.li is a great way to deal with lists.
In Facebook, I have a very limited set of friends, and only occasionally do I have to block some type of post there.
In email, I can hit the Delete button faster than you can blink. In my RSS feeds, I click that Read All button after a fast skim through the new post titles for the day. I may actually read 20% of what comes in each day as new in my RSS feeds.
Sometimes I just step away for a period of time. After the bombing in Boston, it was clear that no one really knew what was going on the the immediate aftermath – a good time to step away and let the information gel. I avoided Twitter, the TV, and the radio for a while.
I don’t let things go or avoid looking through all the information that we get fed each day. I just deal with it a way that is efficient for me. How are you dealing with the information overload we have in our connected lives these days?