Steve Rubel has an interesting article in Ad Age today exploring the possibility that we are in an “Attention bubble”.

I posted about this back in March

Attention Saturation: Every day, more and more online experiences are vying for attention. From a supply and demand perspective, Joe or Jane Websurfer’s attention seems to be getting to the point of being fully saturated, while new online social experiences are popping up every day. Something has to give, and it will likely result in destination site closures and/or consolidations.

Steve states the problem this way:

The problem is that human attention, unlike technology, has limits. There are only so many digital inputs we can realistically pay quality attention to in our busy, multitasked lives. Demands for our attention have outstripped our finite supply of time. A crash is coming, folks. But this time it’s not financial — it’s personal.

And puts a fine point on the key question here:

The attention crisis is an epidemic. There’s no more room at the inn. People will cut back. The key question is: What will they trim? Ad-supported media, or content from peers?

Some will crave the media’s ability to edit; others will want to stay closer to their friends. What’s unmistakable is that choices will be made. And while there seems to be no end in sight for the growth of social media, if this happens en masse, will ad revenue sag, causing a financial pullback? Possibly. There’s no black-and-white answer here.

What does this mean? I would guess, some or all of the following:
- A slow down of new social network site launches
- A consolidation of social networking and community sites
- An abandonment of me-too sites by members. Instead of belonging to a large number social networks and communities because of vanity or peer pressure, folks will prioritize down to the 3-5 that really matter and add value
- A new generation of “A list” bloggers. As bloggers like Scoble slow down (or burn out), the next generation will step up to for their turn

And many other things…

What do you think the implications will be? Have you noticed you information consumption, community participation, or media creation habits changing?