There's some buzz I've been reading about in forums and on blogs about what's known as 'reader fatigue.' This is the condition that happens when you, as an individual, are confronted with sixteen hundred gazillion blogs, email newsletters, forums, and pdf downloads and you just get fed up with it.

I can relate.

Unfortunately, when you switch hats to being a business owner, suddenly you don't want to relate. You want people to read your emails, blogs and pdfs. Each unsubscribe, or ignored feed, or deleted pdf is like a stab to your heart, and a leak in your business.

Oy! Is it hopeless? I don't think so. But first, let me explain something about the last five hundred years or so.

A strange side road in human history.

For thousands of years humans have been social creatures, hanging out in tribes, bands, extended families, and small villages. Then, something funny happened.

In 1493 AD, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. Suddenly it became easier to put out content, and you no longer had to rely on person-to-person communication.

Of course, it took a few hundred years for literacy rates and technology to make it truly powerful. In fact, with broadcast media like radio, television, and other moving pictures, large audiences could be mesmorized by another human being.

After a few decades, the thrill started to fade, even though the special effects were getting more intricate and loud.

Finally, finally, in the mid-1990's, technology caught up with human nature.

The internet began to break up the party. Individuals were no longer trapped by mass media. They took control of other avenues and began to expect what every human being has expected since the dawn of the brain: the ability to talk to one another.

Thus millions of blogs are launched. Companies and institutions can no longer hide behind the corporate moat and drawbridge.

That's all fine and good, sure, but what does that do about reader fatigue? And should you even bother jumping into the fray?

What is reader fatigue? Reader fatigue occurs when truth is absent. What I mean is that when someone combines the expectation of holding a large, mass audience and an intimate conversation at the same time, they trip over their own typing fingers.

By trying to do two things at once, they do neither one well, and totally lose their connection to truth and heart.

Reader fatigue is a bit of a myth. Amazon is still doing a lively business in book sales. People are still reading, perhaps more than ever. But, because we now have more than just three television stations available, people are deciding where to put their attention.

And people put their attention where truth and love are, where connection, support, compassion, and learning are. I'm guessing that's where you put your attention.

The lesson?

Don't let the threat of reader fatigue hide your truth.

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