Do Investors Have Too Much Information Available?

I was reading an article over at the FT today about the explosion in benchmarks and equity indices now available to the average investor. It is enough to make your head spin or at least check Investopedia much more than can possibly be healthy.

I know there are a lot of people out there who love gobs of information and can't seem to get enough of it. I find myself drifting the other way in many areas. It's not that I don't like being able to quickly find what I'm looking for or don't love the vast quantities of stuff out there on the internet. I think my problem with the push toward information overload is the opposite, I think I'm turned off by the fact people want the 30 second sound byte version of EVERYTHING. The world's economy is simplified by the FTSE, EFT's have exploded, and there are even website that will ruin the endings of movies you have yet to see.

I hate to sound old, but I just don't think there should be a super-shortcut for everything. I'm from a generation that had the internet in High School... I have been known to IM watch TV and eat dinner at the same time... and have seen friends become borderline stalkers due to Facebook... so why do I have a problem with the short cut polarize everything, cut out all the discussion way that media outlets operate these days?

Image Credit: NedRichards