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Effects on society                                                                          

Not only individuals but society as a whole is likely to undergo these negative effects of too rapid change. Information anxiety is the primary defining characteristic or result of the information overload problem. If a person did not have any problems finding the correct information, or if the information came in just the right quantity, then information overload would not exist. Information anxiety results from our inability to access and extract meaning from the wide accumulation of information available to us. (Nelson, 1997) Electronic mail, perhaps because it is the most established of the communication technologies, has received the most attention. The effect of this cognitive overload at a social level is tension with colleagues, loss of job satisfaction, and strained personal relationships.

Information Fatigue Syndrom

In our view, the root cause of information overload is the stress created by modern management practices which put people’s jobs under threat, or which increase the general workload or otherwise create defensive behaviour. This leads to information behaviour that creates overload on the individual him/herself and/or on others (Allen& Wilson, 2003). Psychologist Dr.David Lewis, an internationally known Psychologist, Consultant and Lecturer, analysed the findings of the survey and commented:  "Information Fatigue Syndrome – having too much information – can be as dangerous as having too little. Among other problems, it can lead to a paralysis of analysis, making it far harder to find the right solutions or make the best decisions."

   

E-mail and junk mail                    

                                             

            

             




                                         Created by Rehana Islam    March 20, 2006