INFORMATION OVERLOAD
What is it?
Watch video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy456TR7hvs
Not new a new phenomenon.
Beginning with the development of the printing press in the late 1400s, the flow of information to the world has been occurring at a relatively steady pace. However, the modern practice of digitizing content has thrown the floodgates open!
"The invention of movable type led to a proliferation of printed matter that quickly exceeded what a single human mind could absorb in a lifetime. Later technologies—from carbon paper to the photocopier—made replicating existing information even easier. And once information was digitized, documents could be copied in limitless numbers at virtually no cost.
Digitizing content also removed barriers to another activity first made possible by the printing press : publishing new information. No longer restricted by centuries-old production and distribution costs, anyone can be a publisher today... In fact, a lot of new information—personalized purchase recommendations from Amazon, for instance—is “published” and distributed without any active human input. With the information floodgates open, content rushes at us in countless formats: Text messages and Twitter tweets on our cell phones. Facebook friend alerts and voice mail on our BlackBerrys. Instant messages and direct-marketing sales pitches (no longer limited by the cost of postage) on our desktop computers. Not to mention the ultimate killer app: e-mail." Death by Information Overload |
How does it affect us?
There are two ways that INFORMATION OVERLOAD can affect how we relate to digital media. As described in SYMPTOMS it can cause intense frustration, irritability, and lack of productivity. It also can produce a condition where an individual is bombarded by so much information he/she is not capable of managing it.
But, it also can fuel INFORMATION ADDICTION. Read more about digital junkies here.
But, it also can fuel INFORMATION ADDICTION. Read more about digital junkies here.