Communication strategy failure: Information overload

How do we know what is true and what is not? How do we define trustworthiness? How do we get rid of the communication overload? How should a responsible company/public figure communicate? 

The overload

 

There are many who argue that the freedom of expression which Internet and other media provide giving basically everyone the opportunity to speak up has led to a society where nothing can stay hidden forever and thus honesty and transparency should be everybody’s policy in order to avoid image crashes.  However, it might turn out that accepting a reality where information is freely accessible makes us naive and lazy. As we are “drowned” in democracy rhetoric we do not necessarily reflect over the possibility that somebody might be manipulating information to serve someone’s interests. We read news, posts, blogs, forum threads, etc. and sometimes we cannot even tell the difference between them which most of the time is not as clear as one might think. Thus, we take a comment in a forum as seriously as a news post. Furthermore, we do not have the time or the energy to check all referrals and sources of an article for example. Last but not least, we face the so called Clickworker workforce which basically are people hired to write reviews and other consumer content. How do we then separate trustworthy from what is not? On top of that we need to process much more information daily than we actually are capable of: around 5 000 to 30 000 advertising messages alone.

The result is a tired mind nonstop bombarded with information which is a perfect target for manipulation.

Get rid of it

To help ourselves get rid of the overload and thus concentrate on what is really important we need to shut off all distracters. A distracter is a source or a type of information which either is not trustworthy or is not important. It is furthermore what affects our concentration, uses up our processing resources and prevents us from focusing on what is really important. To be more effective and function better both at work and in our private lives we need to learn to prioritize. We need to accept the fact that our brains have limits and we need to use them for what makes most sense.

What to trust?

When we talk about information overload vs. trustworthiness the prioritizing we need to do includes some drastic measures. However, according to your own needs, you might adjust them.

Rule nr. 1 would be to turn all electronics off. Sit down and think what is important to you. Is it really important personally to you that the Greek economic is going down? Do you have some personal investment in the war in Iraq? Do you really care to look through the pictures of a friend of a friend on Facebook or you simply do it automatically? Do you care that that and that public figure in some country had an affair?

Rule nr. 2: Turn off for everything that you are not interested in. If you watch the news because you are bored, that is not a good reason to put your brain through yet another informational attack. If you are interested in sport, watch sports. If you are into politics, follow politics. Especially nowadays it is more than easy to find the perfect source for your needs as there are countless sources and media variations.

Rule nr. 3 comes in connection to trustworthiness. After you have managed to filter the incoming information you should have the time and the energy to separate reliable from unreliable sources. You do that by checking credentials, sources, image, and disclaimers. Normally you will only need to do that once as serious companies value their image and will not allow it to be destroyed by publishing false information. However, a cross-referencing with other publications or following 2-3, maybe more if you have the time, sources provides always a better guarantee that you are being properly informed.

Rule nr. 4 is mostly for those who like reading forums, blogs, reviews. Do not forget that the people writing there are most of the time simply users who come up with some commentary based either on something they somehow have learned or on their own thoughts/experience. Sometimes they also might be people hired to write what they wrote. Trusting them fully is never a good idea without doing some research on your own.

For companies

Even though most consumers do not follow the described steps and often are easy to manipulate by putting images and ideas in their heads it is not recommended taking advantage. Merely from an image point of view you are going to risk destroying your image if your manipulation tactics are ever revealed. Unfortunately for you there are opinion leaders and a bit crazy conspiracy theorists that are always on a lookout for something like that.

There have been many companies through time who have got away with manipulation and even more politicians and public figures who have mastered the art of getting what they want. This does not mean that you will succeed. It is about time companies realize that success may but should not rest on deceiving consumers. Business is always more productive and successful in the long term when you cooperate with your stakeholders and are honest with them.

Instead of taking advantage of the informational clutter, try to stand out with 100 % professionalism and responsibility. Having a clear policy and a clear message will guarantee you a strong position on the market. Imagine being the trustworthy source conscious consumers are choosing. Becoming the trusted partner of your stakeholder brings more value than leaching of them. The time of synergy between companies and consumers has come.

 

DIDI