Business

Thursday Buzz: Information Overload? Not So Much

Information overload is overrated. A new survey from Pew suggests that people tend to handle a lot of information well, especially with the help of technology. Also: Who should manage a project if you don’t have a project manager?

It feels like there’s more information out there than ever, doesn’t it?

Even if that’s the case, we’re handling it better, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. The firm notes that while information has become more prevalent, just 20 percent of people feel information overload, up slightly from 18 percent in 2013 but down a bit from 2006, when the number was 27 percent.

Additionally, the report adds that even with the recent spike of concerns about fake news, more than 80 percent of respondents noted that they felt like they were generally able to discern what was real news and what was fake.

“The survey shows that most Americans are comfortable with their abilities to cope with information flows in their day-to-day lives,” Pew’s John B. Horrigan writes. “Moreover, those who own more devices are also the ones who feel more on top of the data and media flows in their lives.”

The people who do feel the effects of that data overload, the report says, are those who don’t have as much technology at their disposal.

So the lesson for associations might be this: You don’t need to worry about drowning your members in information—as long as those members can parse and manage it.

Project-Management Pitfalls

Trying to get your big project sorted in-house requires someone who’s on the ball; without a dedicated person on staff, things can fall apart. But who should you rely on to lead?

In a blog post, DelCor Senior Consultant of Technology Management Diane Stoner breaks down what your organization should be looking for.

“When the person in charge doesn’t have project management expertise and experience, projects can go south in all kinds of ways,” she explains.

If you need a project manager but don’t have one in your budget, there are still strategies to ease the problem. Check DelCor’s post for more details .

“For new media companies, Twitter is the afterthought”: Digiday highlights how media organizations, once heavily focused on Twitter, are now starting to look in other directions to get noticed.

Animated GIFs can look great in emails, but they come with plenty of pitfalls. The email service Informz discusses the strategies necessary to make your messages look good even when the GIFs don’t animate.

Use Google? Use Slack? If you use both, you might be interested to know that the companies are working to better integrate their respective services.

(iStock/Thinkstock)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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