I recently ordered a book on-line from the author’s web site. Next thing I know I got an e-mail from Barnes and Noble acknowledging my order. O.K. I thought, the author is using Barnes and Noble to fulfill the order. That’s fine, but I really don’t care.
Next day an e-mail from Barnes and Noble shows up telling my order has been received. Later that day I get another e-mail telling me my order is ready to be shipped. Do I really care? – No! Next day I get an e-mail telling me my order has been shipped and if I wish to track my order there is a tracking number. No, I do not care to track it. Since I am a cheapskate and had my purchase shipped the cheapest option available, my book arrived by U.S. Mail 2 days after that, a total of 4 days after I placed my order.
While I know there is a Delete key I can just use, the step by step process of fulfilling my order that was communicated to me by e-mail is, in my book, TMI (too much information!) and a downright nuisance. Who needs all that? I sure don’t. It is just electronic clutter.
It seems to me that electronic communication has made it possible to overload us all with a bunch of information we don’t need, such as what I describe here. Could we please not have to endure quite so much information, even though it is easy to send out? TMI, please!!!
[Images from “Pow! Right Between The Eyes Blog“]
Ya know, I really MISS that Andy Rooney guy!
But on a more serious note, mere annoyance becomes chilling if you stop to ask whether it’s due to SHAPING the audience, or RESPONDING TO the audience, that we hear so MUCH on the evening news about celebrities with (‘feuds’, revealing clothing, police charges, etc.) and so LITTLE about the FULL effects of pending legislation until after passage, foreign relations until something /someone blows up, policy decisions until our rights are removed, etc. Are our media ‘gatekeepers’ meeting demand, or shaping it?
Good point BigBox, including the Andy Rooney comment. Plus the media’s shaping it often seems short lived – how many stories do we see and read that are “breaking news” of the moment, yet there is never a follow up story explaining what happened and how it turned out. Car jackings fo rinsance – once captured, what did the jerk have to say to explain his actions and what was done with him? Sensationalistic reporting for the moment, it seems.
Yeah, there should be an entire show dedicated to “Well, so, how the f**k did that one thing turn out last week?”