According to Pingdom, the internet boasts some staggering numbers. Here's a sample of the report as of 2008:
- 1.3 billion – # of email users worldwide
- 186,727,854 – # of websites
- 1,463,632,361 – # of Internet users
- 10 billion– Photos hosted by Facebook
These stats are unique to blogs:
133 million– # of blogs on the Internet (as tracked by Technorati) with 900,000 new blog posts in a day
133 million blogs! 900,000 new posts! Can you imagine? All those thoughts from all those people. People sharing opinions. People sharing statistics. People speaking falsehoods. People speaking truth. Blogs are normally read by those who subscribe through an RSS feed. "RSS" refers to Really Simple Syndication (funny, huh? "simple"). With an RSS subscription, you don't have to go TO the blog to read the posts. Every time a new post is created by the blog owner, it is sent to your chosen reader, such as Google Reader.
With all of this, I have a question: What do YOU subscribe to? Or more correctly, WHO do you subscribe to? What are your RSS feeds? I have learned a few things that have helped maintain margin and protection in my online experience. Here are a few:
- The Law of Diminishing Returns. Too many RSS feeds and I suffer from information overload. Therefore, I have chosen to subscribe to only a few blogs. I try to rotate to other blogs every once in a while. But I don't try to read it all. It's too much.
- The Law of the Trump Card. I realize that no one is ever 100% right or 100% wrong. Therefore, I read posts and information with an eye toward the face of God and wise counsel. I try not to always take people at their word. I appreciate their viewpoint and insights but I always allow the Holy Spirit to trump.
- The Law of Time Well Spent. I am amazed at how the clock takes off in turbo speed when I sit down to read blog posts. Where does the time go? If I'm not careful, I can end up wasting precious time that is meant for maintaining my marriage, developing in my vocation, spending time with my kids. One idea is to set an egg timer and only read until the timer goes off.
These are some of the things I'm learning. If you have any other ideas or thoughts, feel free to share them in a comment.
Use your online time wisely and you'll be Serving Strong!
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