This happened to me recently: I have always wanted to see Billy Connolly, a Scottish comedian, live on stage. Unfortunately, I found out too late that he had toured London in January, and I missed my opportunity to see him!

I find this utterly strange. How can we miss out on these things even though we live in the age of the internet with information so readily available?

What I find even stranger in this particular example is that both the information provider (the event organizer) and the information receiver (I) had a strong interest in the exchange of the information. Nevertheless, it didn’t happen. Why?
 

I believe the reason is that the “information channels” we use today, such as newspapers, TV, RSS feeds, and e-newsletters, are too broad. Subscribing to them is tantamount to opting for information overload. Consequently, we’ve become very picky as to which information channels we subscribe to, and thereby miss out on interesting information and opportunities.  

I’ve come up with an idea which may help to solve this problem (at least partially) and I need your feedback!

The idea is to limit the number of messages sent. Continuing the example from above, if subscribers could opt to receive updates on Billy Connolly’s touring schedule once or twice a year, I would subscribe to it without hesitation. However, I would never subscribe to a general “Billy Connolly Newsletter” – this would be just too much information!

So how can publishers convince subscribers that they will send only a limited number of messages? One possible solution would be to use a neutral platform that would actually limit the number of messages that could be sent. Knowing they would not be overwhelmed with information, individuals would be more likely to subscribe.

A beta version of such a platform has recently been launched: NextFeeds.com.

The limitation feature makes the most sense if it is possible to clearly state the maximum number of messages that will be sent in the future. Here are some examples (a few of which have already been set up on NextFeeds):

• Daylight saving time reminder (2 messages/ year max)
• A reminder for Valentine’s Day, April Fools Day, Mother’s Day, etc. (each limited to 1 message/year)
• An alert if a favourite singer, comedian, band, or other performer publishes new tour dates (4 messages/year max)
• An alert if a favourite author publishes a new book (4 messages/year max)
• An alert if a lottery accepts applications (e.g., U.S. green card, World Cup tickets) (2 messages/year max)
• Joke of the week (1 message/week max)
• A reminder for the full moon (13 messages/year max)

The service envisions users subscribing to many feeds as they browse the net, receiving messages either as single emails or in their personal newspaper (all messages sent in a single daily email) and never again missing out on interesting opportunities!

Admittedly, the site still needs a lot of improvement, but great things have to start somewhere. I’d very much appreciate your comments and ideas on how to improve the service further! 

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