The internet was created in 1967 as a governmental sponsored university communication network that quickly evolved into a worldwide web that linked the world, transforming the way people live. Today, the average American spends 8-12 hours a day staring at a screen, devoting over a third of their free time to internet use. More than half admit to being addicted to the internet and prefer to communicate digitally rather than in person. Heavy internet users are 2.5 times more likely to be depressed (Goode and Caicedo 1061). Furthermore, numerous human resource studies have indicated that the internet and digital communications that were designed to make work more efficient are blamed for being distracting and preventing people from getting critical tasks accomplished (Karr-Wisniewski and Lu) This phenomenon of information or technology overload refers to “the difficulty a person can have understanding an issue and making decisions that can be caused by the presence of too much information” (Speier et al. 1037). However, Instead of blaming the technology, individuals need to take responsibility for their dependence on a habit that has been medically recognize as addictive, like illicit drugs, alcohol or gambling. Conscious consumption of information is a good first step in eradicating technology overload and there are number of strategies that can be used to lead a balanced life that utilizes the internet as a positive resource.
The term information overload was popularized by futurist Alvin Toffler in his bestselling 1970 book Future Shock. Toffler asserted that society is rapidly evolving and experiencing a fundamental structural change to a technology based economy and lifestyle. Like the industrial revolution, this change can overwhelm people. He believed the accelerated pace of technological and social created isolation, stress and disorientation, what he called future shock. An element of future shock is information overload, which is comprised of other distressing experiences of modern life, like choice overload; this is the frozen feeling people get when they see too many different brands of peanut butter at the supermarket. Toffler believes technological progress and other “improvements” are inevitable, but are actually making our lives worse (Toffler 8). The world of technology has evolved rapidly since Toffler’s original warning about the danger of becoming addicted, dependent and overloaded by technology. However, his idea has evolved into clever terms like infobesity, infoxication, "information glut", and "data smog" (Spira and Feintuch 14). These terms all associate technology with negative connotations, implying being dazed and confused by the internet is like being overweight, drunk, confused and bloated.
The internet was an American invention, but this modern malaise is not just an American problem. In Asia, media coverage of internet addition intensified when Lee Seung Seop, a 28-year-old repairman from Korea had a heart attack after a 50-hour gaming binge at an internet gaming café. His death was attributed to exhaustion and lack of sleep. Seop had recently broken up with his girlfriend and been fired from his job because of his hardcore addiction to computer games (Karr-Wisniewski and Lu). This story strongly aligns with Toffler’s theme of technological isolation, being connected to hundreds of millions of people, but feeling utterly alone.
Recent studies have examined this social and medical phenomena and concluded that it is a real thing but there are a number of factors making it hard to quantify (Christakis 61). It is not taken seriously, because it does not wipe people out financially like gambling or kill them like heroin. Furthermore, like high speed interactive internet itself, the field of internet is “in its infancy and that the overall quality of existing data is fair to moderate at best, but that should not distract us or prevent us from taking what is an emerging problem seriously” (Christakis 61).
In his book The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption (2012) Clay A. Johnson sticks to this medical theme, describing a condition he calls “information obesity”.
The modern human animal spends upwards of 11 hours out of every
24 in a state of constant consumption. Not eating, but gorging on information
ceaselessly spewed from the screens and speakers we hold dear. Just as
we have grown morbidly obese on sugar, fat, and flour—so, too, have we
become gluttons for texts, instant messages, emails, RSS feeds, downloads,
videos, status updates, and tweets (Johnson 4).
According to Johnson, this irrational hunger is created by a society that has embraced the internet and stopped checking its sources and a population that not conscious about its consumption of information. He believes the same way a person becomes obese from eating the wrong kind of food, you can become technologically obese from consuming the wrong kind of information. Johnson gives a recipe with ingredients for a “healthy” information diet and advocated data literacy and information selectivity (Johnson 91).
There is a newer variant of information overload – social media overload. In a recent study, sociologists Goode and Caicedo identified a new “societal malaise” in their book Social Media Overload. They connect the overuse and overstimulation of social media to a variety of social and psychological issues ranging from the echo chamber effect to attention deficit disorder and globalization. Like the emergence of computers in the 1980’s, and the internet in the 1990’s, social media in the 2000’s have become a symptom of the zeitgeist. The “social media” debate has focused on side effects, such as loneliness, depression, “stupidity” and long-term brain damage associated with sending five hundred texts a day (Goode and Caicedo). Teenagers base their social status and feel depression based on their Facebook popularity. Like the computer, internet and smart phones, social media is here to stay (Goode and Caicedo). The question is how to use this technology in a responsible way. Instead of “gorging” on it, we need to practice moderation.
There is also a great deal of human resource management research on the field of internet technology focusing on workplace efficiency. Does internet connectivity, smartphones and social media really make businesses and workers more efficient? Studies from the 1980’s uncovered the “productivity paradox”, which revealed that there was no connection between IT investment and productivity (Speier et al. 1037). However, as the technology evolved, more studies concluded that IT investment leads to real efficiency returns. And innovation, which is hard to quantify, seems to rule the economic landscape (Dedrick et al. 4). Nevertheless, there has been a growing backlash against technology. A 2009 Pew Internet and American Life Project coined the term ‘‘ambivalent networkers” to describe a growing population of workers who are not loving the constant interactivity of the internet.
Human resource research has shown that the digital communications supposed to make things run more efficiently are actually preventing people from getting critical tasks accomplished. An estimated 28% of our work day is consumed by technological interruptions which cost the US economy over $585 billion a year (Spira & Goldes, 2007).Workers are sick of it. In a recent study, Karr-Wisniewski and Lu examined technology and examined workplace productivity strategies and outcomes in the IT sector. They define information overload as ‘the point in which a marginal addition of new technology reaches the point of diminishing marginal returns” (Karr & Wisniewski 1062). Their findings did conclude that technology increase productivity, but they concluded that worker health and well-being were also factors that needed to be taken into consideration. They suggest how tradeoffs can be managed to ameliorate technology overload. To reduce distractions, encourage sanity and increase efficiency companies are adapting to the challenges created by an ultra-connected workforce. Many companies have instituted email-free Fridays and only use phones at certain times of the day (Karr & Wisniewski 1068).
Like many things in life, using the internet responsibly requires finding a healthy balance. For many young people, the internet is their social life, and this has repercussions from isolation, depression to obesity. In the workplace, which has become – as Toffler predicted – an ultra-competitive global market, communication is seen as the key to success. However, being continuously connected to the workplace matrix may have productivity and health consequences. When the information overloads us, it is time to turn off the computer, put down the smartphone and step outside, exercise, join a club, hit the library or grow a garden. Technology users have tools at their fingertips to control their own experiences. They can opt out, block, unfollow or mute. When it becomes overwhelming, when their brains are overload, it may be time for an individual to do a digital detox. Like many other addictive substances, the internet can be enjoyed best in moderation.
Works cited
Christakis, Dimitri A. "Internet addiction: a 21st century epidemic?." BMC medicine 8.1 (2010): 61.
Dedrick, Jason, Vijay Gurbaxani, and Kenneth L. Kraemer. "Information technology and economic performance: A critical review of the empirical evidence." ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 35.1 (2003): 1-28.
Johnson, Clay A. The information diet: A case for conscious consumption. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2011.
Karr-Wisniewski, Pamela, and Ying Lu. "When more is too much: Operationalizing technology overload and exploring its impact on knowledge worker productivity." Computers in Human Behavior 26.5 (2010): 1061-1072.
"Ambivalent Networkers." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. 22 Nov. 2014. <http://www.pewinternet.org/2009/03/25/ambivalent-networkers/>.
Speier, Cheri, Joseph S. Valacich, and Iris Vessey. "The influence of task interruption on individual decision making: An information overload perspective." Decision Sciences 30.2 (1999): 337-360.
Spira, Jonathan B., and Joshua B. Feintuch. The Cost of Not Paying Attention: How Interruptions Impact Knowledge Worker Productivity. United States: Basex, 2005. Print.
Toffler, Alvin. Future shock. Random House LLC, 1990.
Walkyria Goode, and Guido Caicedo. "SOCIAL MEDIA OVERLOAD." Cutting-edge Social Media Approaches to Business Education: Teaching with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, and Blogs (2010): 289.
