election coverage, then information overload is the parallel pitfall on

After spending one interminable day in October reviewing Web

coverage of the presidential campaign, I can verify that the online

universe is indeed infinite, and that politics, not pornography,

seemed the most prolific theme.

Stunned by thousands of news articles, background pieces,

surveys, discussion forums, transcripts and commentary, this

human brain nearly screamed for spoon-fed mush. Election sections

on most of the major news sites were so enormous that a person

couldn't possibly process all the sections and subsections and

sub-subsections. About 20 percent of the stuff seemed digestible; the

rest was far more than the average visitor would care to chew.

But that's the nature of the Internet, isn't it? Throw enough stuff

at the wall, and most of it will be used by someone. Let folks pick and

also has the potential to paralyze, confuse and overwhelm. But the

and random surveys.

question submitted by a visitor at one of the partner sites. The

potential to make debates and campaigns much more substantive. It

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Ralph Nader, Internet There's, Jim Nicholson, Debate Referee, MTV MSNBC, Bush Gore, Spanish Nearly, Markle Foundation, RETURN Main, major sites,
Approximate Word count = 2051
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)