Age of the Over-informed and Undecided

While I should be packing for a fantastic learning opportunity with other Argyle CMO Forum attendees, I'm instead blogging from home. The conference is in New York, you know--the city under scrutiny for not knowing how to properly respond to a blizzard? The latest reports give all the doom and gloom of expected inches of snow and possible mayhem. This Texan girl must decline potential blizzards, trips to visit the New Yorker Office with old pals, and chances to rub elbows with new marketing comrades. Dangit.

Why? Because the internet told me to.

Friend of mine (and fellow blogger) is having a baby. Nearly freaking out about diapers, strollers, food, daycare, you name it, she is Googling it. She is rightfully overwhelmed. Have you seen the reviews on these things? Frightening. You go with a 3-Star stroller instead of 4-Star, and you risk your baby's life and wellbeing. Not to mention their rep at the playground-for like, LIFE. Luckily, I can come to the rescue and refer her to another friend of mine (and blogger) who has reviewed several of these items. Alas, she still has no idea what she wants.

Why? Because the internet changes it's mind.

I get home, boyfriend tells me how John Elway has embraced Twitter. How the once "CIA-like" secrecy of the NFL is being released for the first time, and people are loving it. They love the new influx of information. This will  no doubt cause controversy every Sunday and Monday in the household. As if the new ESPN iphone app wasn't accessible enough, now Elway has a play by play in the boardroom.

I'll be the first to admit. I love it.

I google everything. If I'm going to an event. I search for pictures so I know what to wear. If you are selling me something I'm the slightest bit interested in, I'm checking you out. If you're applying for a job, you better have a linkedin profile. And if I just met you, I already know more about your ex-girlfriend that you do. But honestly what good does this do? Ya, not much.

What I do know, is that over-informed travelers are likely to spend more time at home. Maternal instincts make you spend sleepless nights googling poop-holders. And Twitter scares stockholders to death.

I'm wondering how many others out there are like us? (assuming you are reading this because you googled me) The over-informed and undecided... 

Knowledge is power...right? Multi-tasking was the premier trait seeked by job recruiters in the 90's (see INC interview with Julie Morgenstern.) Now, is the more focused individual the more informed? Do people without the white noise interruption become the most wanted? Is it better to know more of less than less of more?

Honestly, I still don't know.

Therefore, I blog about these topics, pose these questions, google for reference material, post on twitter, write about it on Facebook, and anxiously await feedback from my readers. If I don't receive immediate feedback, I'll post again on Twiiter tomorrow morning. If I don't hear anything then, I'll check my Google Analytics account to make sure people are reading my blog. Then I'll check what company they are from, then how long they spent reading, then maybe check what search term they used to find me... then maybe... oh gosh.... its a never ending circle isn't it?

I google so I can learn more. So I know what to google better, so I can learn more....