An old Concept
Overload of data has been a topic already for 15 years. Thinking why this all happened one should look back in time. It goes back to Guttenberg times, who produced a printing machine therefore cost of books and therefore volume increased enormously. But to print books one person or the author had to pay for it and therefore take all the risk, so publishing companies functioned as filters what to print and what not (what is good and will sell and what is not). And this applies to all media – TV, radio because you have to pay for something to be seen or heard. [4]
According to Miller (1978), information overload results from the inability of living systems to process excessive amounts of information. Combined with the fact that technology can generate information much faster than people can process it, this means that people often find themselves unable to cope with an increasing amount of information (Chan 2001). Furthermore, Marcusohn, for example, states that information overload 'may originate both from information actively requested/searched for and information received 'inertly'. (Marcusohn 1995: 36) Empirical studies conducted e.g. in management science suggest that information overload is a real problem that significantly affects task performance and job satisfaction [2]. [1]
Information overload is referred to in a variety of ways in the literature - data smog (Shenk 1997), data delirium (Sapinski 1997) and information fatigue syndrome (Oppenheim 1997). However one terms it, it is seen as a problem that can manifest itself in a number of ways. Uncontrolled and unorganized information can hinder learning and decision-making (Chan2001; Farhoomand & Drury 2002), reduce productivity and can have negative effects on health and well-being (White & Dorman 2000). [3]
In general, information overload may be understood as a subjective experience of the insufficiency of time needed to make effective use of information resources available in specific situations. Thus, the encounter with information overload seems to be characterized by the experience of ‘being overwhelmed’ [4, p. 249]. [1]
On the other hand, it has been claimed that the problems caused by overload are overestimated. Phenomena of information overload may be associated with mythical assumptions and that many information seekers do not experience information overload as a problem since they may have learned to live with the overload and are less likely to complain; it may have become an accepted state (2, p.26). Still, there seems to be real need to cope with it by employing diverse strategies.[1]
Alvin Toffler is the man behind the term. Information overload is about vast information being provided which makes the proccessing and absorbing it difficult. Individuals are not able to see the validity behind the information. The 108 million websites (in 2007, the number is increasing) in Internet image the situation nowadays; people are conducting their own research easily, producing and consuming information as we speak. Participating and social media are the trends now, more and more people are considered to be active in this field. These facts also arise the risk to access misinformation, the validity of the content produced varies [21].
Networked Environments in the context of information overload
In many studies information overload was recognized as a real problem afflecting information seeking particularly in the networked environments.[1] According to researches information has grown from ~200 exabytes to ~800 exabytes in years 2006 to 2009 [4] More than 70 percent of all document heavy industries keep their most important files in electronic format." [5]
Stross Randall writes that the sight of two dozen messages awaiting individual responses makes him perspire. He thinks that eventually, someone will come up with software that greatly eases the burden of managing a high volume of e-mail. But in the meantime, we perhaps should look to the past and see what tips we might draw from prolific letter writers in the pre-electronic era who handled ridiculously large volumes of correspondence without being crushed. [2]
However, Shirky Clay in his web 2.0 fair presentation [4] takes the discussion to another direction: “It's Not Information Overload. It's Filter Failure”, he states. He continues that now in internet cost of producing information is almost 0, therefore no one controls the quality. So this is not information overload, because we have always had a lot information to select from. Actually this situation can be described by filtering problems ("filter failure"), because no watches or selects what is published on the internet. [4]
Example 1 - everyone is used to deleting spam in the morning or what left of it after systematic spam filters. Sometimes people look at spam in the morning and say that this has increased double in size. Clay Shirky claimed that actually he noticed that if he had to put more time into deleting of spam that it got annoying, spam had only increased by 25%. So the talk about doubling of spam is not true. Basically we end up again not so effective filtering and not overload of information, because we are filtering the spam and so the spam filter. [4]
Interestingly, many problems of information overload plaguing people’s everyday lives were already characterized in detail in the 1980s. For example, Wurman [9] described the phenomenon of ‘information anxiety’ and proposed concrete ways like ‘low fat information diet’ to combat this problem. Popular writing such as this is thought-provoking, and may provide useful tips for the
needs of [1]
Problems with handling information
In a survey conducted by Know Technologies, the following problems with handling information were recognized: [5]
- Seven out of 10 professionals in the pharmaceutical industry surveyed believe that their productivity is limited due to unnecessary searching for electronic documents that they have already read but cannot find. [5]
- 50 percent of the professionals surveyed find themselves frustrated with the inability to locate the emails and attachments necessary to perform their tasks; the percentage rose to 58 in the insurance industry alone. [5]
- Three out of 10 professionals are spending 25 percent of their work day searching for lost emails/files; this translates into $XXX/week lost to poor e-mail filing (in a billed $XX/hr situation). [5]
- 70 percent of all professionals keep their most important files in electronic format, yet 50 percent believe that their productivity is limited by not being able to find those improperly filed documents. [5]
The Negative Impact of Information Overload
According to Ted Tjaden (2007), there are studies which suggest that information overload makes people dumber. When a person is exposed to excessive amounts of information he/she gets less productive, make bad decisions, and is at risk to have a serious stress-related disease. [14]
Information overload is a situation where a person receives too much information, from too many sources, gets too many interruptions, and/or information is given too quickly. [14]
