In today’s world of ever expanding technology and constant media access, the issue of information overload arises. Information overload refers to the dilemma that occurs when an individual is exposed to increasing amounts and rates of information, without an increase in their ability to process this information. There are many downsides to information including stress, dissemination of fake news, increased susceptibility to the influence of information, pressure to keep up with the information, and even fear of missing out (FOMO). For the focus of this paper, the issue of information overload is explored along with its prevailing future, its influence on society and possible coping strategies.
It is almost impossible to discuss information overload in the context of today without mentioning social media. Social media, in all of its forms, provides a platform for exactly that- a massive load of information that can be accessed all around the clock and with technology making devices that provide this information more accessible, it is no surprise that people today are seemingly addicted to subjecting themselves to information overload. To understand information overload, first one must understand what constitutes as information.
Information comes in many forms; whether that be news, pictures, advertisements, movies, shows, or radio- information always relays a message. Most information nowadays comes from media sources, not from educational sources. ‘By the time an American child is fifteen years old, she has watched more hours of television than she has spent in the classroom’ (Tuchman, G. 1978). Clearly, mass media holds a special influence on the information that reaches its audiences, and given the expanding technology, this issues appears to be one that will continue to grow rather than begin to disappear. Therefore, if the goal is to understand information overload, one must take a look at the information being disseminated, but also, at who is doing the disseminating.
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Given that media provides most of the information, it is understandable to question what drives the media. Considering that media is a business, the most obvious answer would be profits, and to explain how media profits off the information it provides; the reflection hypothesis comes to mind. The reflection hypothesis characterizes how the media reflects dominant societal ideals and values (Tuchman, G. 1978). Therefore, the information we see is very telling of the society we live in, because after all, no one wants to submerge themselves in information that disagrees with their ideologies or causes dissonance in what they believe to be true of the world (Metin & Metin Camgoz, 2011).
However, the world is very diverse and many people hold very opposing ideologies, and so perhaps, this is why we see such targeted marketing strategies and data mining- because by knowing your audience you know how to sell to them. Of course it is also essential to note that most profits in the media world come from advertising dollars. Hence, most of the information we are provided is not there to tell us something, but more so there to sell us on something. So where do we turn when we simply want to learn a new piece of information?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to that question, and with the changes occuring in technology and media, that answer is only becoming less available. From a psychological perspective, we are naturally not equipped to deal with information overload. The cognitive miser model states that humans take shortcuts in decision making in order to expend the least amount of cognitive effort possible (Metin & Metin Camgoz, 2011). Given this notion, it follows that when seeking information humans will turn to the most available sources, they won’t spend too much time digging.
However, perhaps there is a more to gain from spending time digging than simply believing the first piece of information they find. Now that anyone can disperse information (whether that be factual or fake information) to mass audiences at any given time, it is hard to determine what is real and what is fake. Especially when you take into account the hidden agendas of these sources, given how much of the information is being secretly funded by advertising. It appears media is exploiting the cognitive abilities of its audience through the mass overload of information, not only based on the cognitive miser model but also on cognitive processing abilities.
The rate of processing information within the human brain falls severely below the rate of information in take that we see in today’s society. ‘As Bjorner has stated the unsolvable problem is that human information processing cannot catch up with the speed of mechanical information production’ (Edmunds & Morris, 2000). This issue, of course, is only escalating because the rate of information in take is only increasing. Take platforms like instagram and facebook that we see people mindlessly scrolling up and down their feeds any chance they get. The information provided by this feed is being taken in, however, it is impossible for this information to be being processed thoroughly. Of course, given that much of this information may be false or simply inadequate, the lack of processing may not be the worst thing, however, there are downsides to taking in information without properly processing it.
Humans make decisions based on the information they have at hand, so naturally, there is an issue that arises when they aren’t able to process the information at hand. ‘Humans have limited cognitive processing capacities, and consequently, when they are overloaded with information, their quality of decision making suffers’ (Gomez-Rodriguez, Gummadi & Scholkopf). So how do they decide what to interpret as factual or irrelevant? Confirmation bias tells us that they will opt to believe information they find to be consistent with their own beliefs.
However, this means that if their own beliefs are not factual or based on fictitious premises, then they will simply reinforce their fictitious beliefs with the information they find that is consistent with their beliefs. When also considering how information is targeted at individuals based on their personal interests and information, this basically just means that individuals are constantly reinforcing their beliefs and aren’t actually subjecting themselves to any new or alternative information. Essentially this indicates that the sources people rely on for new information aren’t actually providing them with any new information. So if they aren’t gaining new information from the overload of information they are getting, then what are they gaining?
Edmunds and Morris in their paper, The problem of information overload in business organisations: A review of the literature, highlight the effects of information overload in the workplace. ‘While there are obvious benefits from easier access to information, research has found that information overload can lead to stress, loss of job satisfaction and physical ill health’ (Edmunds & Morris 2000).
Thus, information overload is making us stressed, unhappy and sick. The constant access to information is exhausting our cognitive abilities to process information, leaving us stressed, and cognitively defeated. ‘Information overload in social media today arises out of users’ tendency to socialize (exchange information) with many other users’ (Gomez-Rodriguez, Gummadi & Scholkopf). The information we are subjecting ourselves to is overly personalized by the people we associate with, leaving us comparing our own lives to others and even creating the new concept of FOMO or fear of missing out. ‘Concurrent with these phenomena is the anxiety generated by worrying whether an important piece of information has been missed in the volume of material that is being processed’ (Edmunds & Morris 2000).
This highlights how FOMO works because even though we are receiving such vast loads of information we are still concerned with missing important bits of information. ‘Two other terms found in the literature that are aptly used to describe the problem of information overload are analysis paralysis and information fatigue syndrome.’(Edmunds & Morris 2000) Finally, the burden of all this is placed on the audiences mental health, because so much time is spent searching through information and very little meaning is found.
Edmund and Morris in their paper discuss several ways to cope with information overload including shifting the focus when searching through information, personal management strategies and even introducing new technology to help with these issues. Shifting the focus refers to ‘focusing on concepts and principles rather than on details and data, and to learn that we cannot know everything about everything’ (Edmund & Morris 2000). Personal management strategies include carefully selecting which sources to use in the search of information based on what you are searching for (Edmund & Morris 2000). Lastly, introducing ‘push technology’ to help filter through information based on what information is being sought out (Edmund & Morris 2000). This involves employing new technologies to act as a filter based on what the person is seeking.
The effects of information overload are serious and are affecting a large amount of people on a regular daily basis. The consequences range from taking in false information to subjecting oneself to a never ending quest for information and exhausting fundamental resources needed to function in the process. Based on the research and careful consideration, it appears the best way to deal with the issue of information overload is to understand it. If one can understand how media influences society and how the psychological nature of an individual easily falls victim to this, then one can certainly be equipped with the knowledge they need to cope with information overload.
Overall, I think it is important to understand the power of moderation and to limit the exposure to useless information as much as possible, while carefully assessing the information that is allowed to pass through. Additionally, just because the quest for endless information has become a new prevailing issue that doesn’t mean that everyone must fall victim to it. It is ok to not be fully submerged in the informational culture when you consider that much of that culture may not even be true and isn’t even being properly processed by others in the audience. Essentially, the best way to overcome information overload is to understand that it is an overload that cannot possibly be processed at its entirety, and trying to keep up with it will only cost the individual. There is little to gain when the validity of the information is questionable and much to lose when the volume of the information is too large to possibly keep up with. If we use the mass information accessible to us to analyze the influence of this information then perhaps overcoming the effects of information overload is possible.
References
- Gomez-Rodriguez, M., Gummadi, K. P., & Scholkopf, B. (n.d.). Quantifying Information Overload in Social Media and Its Impact on Social Contagions. Proceedings of the Eighth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media. Retrieved from file:///home/chronos/u-ec9f64d76420b190f131b3650f8a69aafc19655a/Downloads/8108-37744-1-PB.pdf.
- Edmunds, A., & Morris, A. (2000). The problem of information overload in business organisations: A review of the literature. International Journal of Information Management 20 (2000) 17}28. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.203.3150&rep=rep1&type=pdf
- Tuchman, G. (1978). The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media. Hearth and Home: Images of Women in the Mass Media.
- Metin, I., & Camgoz, S.M. (2011). The Advances in the History of Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
