Friday, December 18, 2009

Swamped in information, how do you get your message across

People used to see 10,000 pieces of information daily.

That number has risen exponentially. Now we “consume” 100,000 words outside work daily, according to a recent report by the University of California, San Diego. *

That’s like reading 2/3 of a hardback novel every single day.

In 1960, we spent 7.4 hours of our free time daily on media. Today, we spend nearly 11.8 hours.**

Most of our time, 45 percent, is spent watching television.

Contrary to stereotypes, teens spend less hours a day (4) watching TV than people age 60-65 (7).

Although we talk about the decline of reading (books, newspapers and magazines), that is not the case. When reading on a computer (Internet browsing, reading online papers, texts from friends, etc.) is counted, reading has actually increased.

But, the medium has changed. Who does business with first-class mail or fax now? Very few people.

What does this mean? It means the competition is fierce. Your message must be informative and interesting—or it’ll get lost in the deluge.

For more information, please call Dell Richards Publicity at 916. 455.4790 or visit us at
www.dellrichards.com


* "How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers" by Roger E. Bohn and James E. Short.

** By including weekends, work is calculated at only 3 hours a day. When multi-tasking, each medium is counted, doubling the amount of data and hours consumed.