The Attention Age – or just Information Overload?

As the internet rapidly expanded in the mid 1990s the phrase “Information Age” was coined by the media to explain the possibilities that this new information superhighway held for us. We were suddenly able to get information on anything we wanted, whenever we wanted it. A radical departure for a society whose collective information was traditionally stored in libraries. With technology evolving rapidly over the last ten to fifteen years and the mediums with which we access this superhighway developing apace, the Information Age has evolved too.

Attention Age

We have moved beyond the Information Age into the Attention Age. As the amount of information available increased so our ability to consume it all decreased. Information providers now vie for the attention of an increasingly discerning information consumer.

Search Engines hold the key to the Attention Age. Search is the preferred way for individuals to find information. This in mind, search returns – through their algorithms and formulas – strive to become increasingly relevant to information requests. The good news for individual information consumers is that it is up to the information provider to demonstrate the relevance of their site rather than for the web users to stumble upon it.

Information Overload

Information is everywhere. We find ourselves in a state of constant bombardment by the messages and opinion of everyone from genuine industry experts, to the web equivalent of a man with a placard heralding the end of the world. There is no way that anyone could read every piece of information in the public realm. That in mind, and in order to give us time to do things other than consume information, it is wise to ration the amount we take in and tune out the irrelevant noise. Instead of seeing it as information overload, see it more as living with constant choice about what is relevant and where to get your information. Information itself is no longer the commodity. Our attention is.

Social Media

Another great difference between the Information Age and the Attention Age is the rise and use of social media. Through social media platforms such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube individuals create, consume and share information amongst followers and friends. Often they have micro-relevance to an individual or set of individuals but the fact that it has been created and shared means that it can be consumed.

Tools have been developed to cut through the noise and hone in on what is relevant to the personalized interests of Joe or Josephine Bloggs. RSS feeds, for example, allow you to subscribe to channels providing interesting comment or information at the exclusion of others.

As long as we have an increasing pool of information to draw conclusions from, the Attention Age will continue to develop as a concept and as a reality. For B2B marketers, the Attention Age offers opportunity to hone their dialogue with consumers and make it relevant and accessible via the filtering channels. More information is not always better, relevant and accessible information is.