Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Information Overload


The NHL Entry Draft was completed last weekend. Lots of speculation/gossip but no action.

For me, it was the biggest case of information overload I have ever experienced. Several websites provided instant updates, Oilersnation.com had a live blog and NHL insiders were tweeting away. Add to that any verbal discussions, SMS exchanges and email threads.

Not once in the past have I ever had this many sources going at once for an important day in the NHL. It was very overwhelming.

And here's the best part: NHL free agency begins tomorrow. Any players that do not have a contract for the upcoming season hit the open market and get signed by any team. Let the madness commence!

I think this ties back to Clay Shirky's chapter about everyone becoming a source of information. Initially, we had the big networks covering these events. You would just go with whatever they provided.

Now, you have hundreds of websites providing insider information, speculation/gossip, salary information about every NHL team and real-time stats. It's up to the user to decide what is best. Unfortunately, this can create a lot of information overload.

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