Information overload attributed to email is a serious problem. There have been a few companies looking to help. I have been using AwayFind with an away message to help set email reply expectations and allow users to get ahold of me more quickly with important messages. I also recently heard about a well-funded company called Seriosity looking to put a currency around your email inbox to help combat information overload. This intrigued me so I dug a little deeper to find out just how they are looking to accomplish their mission.
Seriosity offers a product called Attent that takes some of the learnings from gaming to industry to create a marketplace for email. Like any marketplace there is a currency and each email costs users currency. Since users do not have unlimited currency they must ration currency which Seriosity believes will cut down on unnecessary email exchanges thus combating the email overload issue.
Will currency help curb excessive email? My first response would be a resounding NO! Attent is an email system that creates a fictitious currency and without buy-in by the rest of the world the currency will not work. While I think it is a good program for teaching email control and probably will work within a closed system, email is not a closed system and therefore cannot be totally addressed by Attent. I do not think Attent will gain the buy-in necessary to fix information overload for everyone. I could go on but I would love to hear what you think:
Would adding a currency with a set allowance help fight your information overload problems?
Please leave your SOMEWHAT FRANK perspective in the comments section below.
