Saw this great spelling error the other day on a blog: attention spam. I say ‘great’ because it created an expression that captures a concept I’ve been thinking about for a long time: there’s so much information and just plain stimuli bombarding our brains each day that we’re suffering from attention spam.

Whenever I suggest that my clients simplify their message or simplify their visual aids, what I’m really saying is: stop spamming your audience’s brains, because not only is spam annoying, but we have filters to keep it out or, if it gets in, we trash it. Most importantly, spam distracts us from the useful and interesting things trying to get to our ‘mental inbox.’

Say no to attention spam!

UPDATE: Seems I’m behind the times – found ‘attention spam’ in the Urban Dictionary. The closest definition to my concept: “Any material or fodder which tends to destroy the attention span.”