Distributed Information...

What's another cool thing about the Internet? The ability to pull information from multiple sources.

I've got six tabs that I've created at the customized Windows Live page I have built.

1. Headlines
2. Energy
3. Politics
4. Marketing/Biz
5. Tech
6. MyBlogs

On each tab, I have 3-5 RSS feeds from a variety of sources on which I depend to get my news and information.

What's so incredible is that I only have 1 traditional news source (MSNBC-on the front page) and I barely read it. Instead, I gather my news from bloggers, mostly, and a few sites I trust.

I have never paid for a newspaper subscription to a traditional paper. Nor will I ever. No wonder their circulations are plummeting, right? Why do I need the Wash Post or NY Times, when I can get targeted information from a reliable source on a specific topic of interest?

The serendipity argument has merit. I don't casually leaf through a paper, but between visits to doctor's offices and emails from people, I come across enough random stuff to keep me busy.

Fascinating..at least for me.

The question then is...if you're a politician (and I think this is part of George Bush's problem, frankly) or a marketer/advertiser...how do you cost-effectively get out the word? And, when you have so many different sources reporting on what you (or your company) is doing, how do you control the message?

I think the answer is: you can't. Maybe we're entering the true "actions speak louder than words era?"