information overload

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia.

information overload

(jargon)

When a person feels unable to read all the information that is presented or available to them, particularly where they need to make decisions based on that information but can't because there is just too much to take in in the time available.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

information overload

A symptom of the high-tech age, which is too much information for one person to absorb in a world of expanding digital technology. Information overload primarily comes from the gigantic amount of content on the Internet, including search engine results, blogs and social media. Web pages bombard the senses with ads, and junk email (spam) adds chaos. Combine the digital information with the traditional sources such as TV, magazines, newsletters and junk postal mail, and information overload is a fact of modern life in the developed world. See Data Smog, disinformation and digital vacation.

The Help Manuals Make It Worse
Information overload also includes the often indecipherable documentation that must be read to operate everything from a handheld device to a software application. It boils down to this: the volume of information that crossed our brains in one week at the end of the 20th century is more than a person received in a lifetime at the beginning of it. See user interface and RTFM.

Copyright © 1981-2019 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Remember, information overload comes when we are trying to cope with more information than we're able to process to make sensible decisions.

Information overload..

Saper also uses aggregators to battle information overload. His favourites are Newsgator and Flock, which he says is a combined browser and aggregator.

Information overload

It might be time to think about your own contribution to information overload. In that regard, the new IABC report can provide you with food for thought and lots of examples to learn from.

How communicators can fight information overload: a new IABC Research Foundation study offers case studies and tips to help make your messages memorable

To become an extraordinary reader, you need to be clear that you never want to fall victim again to information overload. This has to be worth your while because it won't only relieve pressure, it will give you a competitive advantage.

The extraordinary way to eliminate overload: Clive Lewis reveals a new reading strategy that will get you the knowledge you need, fast

Instructional designers understand the necessity of reducing information overload. We know how important it is to weed out the "nice to know" to help learners focus on the "need to know." However, we often fall into the trap of thinking that a media-rich design is the best way to address learning needs.

Efficiency in Learning

Successful leaders don't suffer information overload because they know how to manage data as well as they know how to manage any other aspect of business.

Tame information overload: 10 ways to increase productivity with technology

Conjoint researchers have feared that the information load created by asking respondents to evaluate large numbers of product profiles, each containing a substantial amount of information, could create a condition similar to that described as 'information overload' in the literature on consumer information processing (Jacoby et al.

Information overload in conjoint experiments

"What, then, is the history of 'information overload? Is it a history that can be written?....

Early Modern Information Overload [Special Issue]

Trade shows can expose you to many different vendors but car result in information overload by the end of the day.

Why content management should be part of every organization's global strategy: to meet the challenges of creating, using, and sharing content in a global marketplace, organizations should consider a content management system

We're using fewer sheets of paper as a percentage of total data output, but as the UC Berkeley study found, the information overload continues to mount, and we're using more paper every year.

A blizzard of paper

"They're part of 'information overload.' We offer our subscribers exclusivity, our analysis and conviction and a steady stream of new ideas."

Carlton and Tim Lutts's investment newsletters are their own bull market

Otherwise the hotel's visual aspect would be over the top, an information overload," Armentano says.

Unique boutique: a pharmaceutical heir chooses risk over easy reward, making a name in hotels