Poverty of attention

Was thinking about the plethora of information that's available today for carrying out specific tasks, when I was lead to an interview with Google's Chief Economist on McKinsey quarterly. According to him what's really scarce in the internet is attention. Well, isn't it true? He quotes psychologist Herb Simon - "A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
That brings to me the theory of positioning. Am not referring to the marketing concept but positioning of self. Does having 500 people in your network of friends enable you achieve anything better than someone with just 50? Does quality of friends circle matter? Well, am trying to recall names of all my friends and what they do these days - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ....8 Oops! tough, am racking my brains for more.
As the world becomes increasingly connected, quality of friends-circle and positioning matters a lot. Bigger the circle doesn't make one effective.

Quest for prominence

Everyone wants to be first, everyone wants to be known - that's common across India. Be it on the roads in Bangalore or in the digital fast lanes -online, the quest for prominence is increasing by the day. An article in the Hindu corroborates this http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200904031878.htm. According to the Norton Online Living Report, Indians are more likely to make friends online and fall just behind the Chinese in seeking friends online. Be it film actors or technology companies, the quest for prominence is evident in their initiatives. Kareena Kapoor, a leading bolllywood actress dumped lesser known Shahid Kapur for an established and 'prominent' figure in the industry - Saif Ali Khan. Technology start-ups are more likely to come to Bangalore than other cities as they can leverage the existing ecosystem for technology in Bangalore. Their strategy would then be limited to gaining prominence in this existing ecosystem.
The undying quest for prominence is today attracting others to be a part of the 'prominence' ecosystem.