An Abundance of Information Creates a Poverty of Attention

My mad-scientist friend and early career mentor Len Ellis started a blog. (Len’s first post was in October 2007, but I didn’t discover it until now.) He opens up:

To blog or not to blog is no longer a question if you’re reading this sentence.

The Information Age conjures us up as data-based profiles. In Digital Age we conjure ourselves up as virtual identities. Knowledge workers like myself have little choice in the matter.

Like other knowledge workers, I’ve got a split personality–advanced academic training followed by a career in commerce; in my case, social sciences followed by marketing communications. In these posts I’ll deflate pretentous on both sides, and since an abundance of information creates a poverty of attention, I’ll keep things brief.

Tune in.

Len’s one of the smartest, visionary people I know, so I look forward to following his blog. Among my favorite Len-isms is the “Web is a Woman.” Len’s dense yet insightful Madison Avenue manifesto, Marketing In The In-Between, is well worth the read.