Psychologists are beginning to study the impact that information overload is having on our lives.
By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff
We awake to news radio updates and talk-show chatter. At work, we sort through voice messages and World Wide Web pages. Throughout the day, ringing phones, dinging e-mails and squealing fax machines announce the arrival of yet more information.
Welcome to the jumble—the dizzying information glut of the late 20th century. Information has never been as easy to access—or as distracting. But what is this surge of stimuli doing to our well-being?
According to some psychologists and researchers, the “data smog” that bombards us every day may be making us ill by interfering with our sleep, sabotaging our concentration and undermining our immune systems. David Lewis, PhD, a British psychologist, calls the malady “information fatigue syndrome.”
The fast flow of facts motivates people to a point, but once it pushes past a critical threshold, their brains rebel. “It causes paralysis of analysis,” Lewis says.
At worst the overload can lead to indigestion, heart problems and hypertension, Lewis’ case studies of business executives suggest. In its mildest form, it sparks irritability and jeopardizes work productivity.
“Our brains aren’t wired to ‘multitask’ the way our computers are,” says psychologist Larry Rosen, PhD, a human-computer dynamics expert and psychology professor at California State University–Dominguez Hills. “We’re taxing the limits of our human abilities.”
The overload problems shouldn’t all be pinned on technology itself though, says Rosen, who co-authored the recent book “TechnoStress” (John Wiley & Sons, 1997) with clinical psychologist Michelle Weil, PhD, a private practitioner and technology consultant in Orange, Calif.
After all, the Internet instantly links people with knowledge, distant places and family members. In one sitting you can read a government document, tour a virtual museum and e-mail a friend in Angola.
The problems stem from people’s overuse or misuse of technologies and from technology’s ineffective presentation of information, researchers are finding. The World Wide Web teems with information, but people complain that they either cannot find what they want or else get hundreds of “hits.” In the search for solutions, some researchers are exploring the effects of information overload on technology users and are developing ways to quell its impact.
Meanwhile, psychologists in human-computer interaction areas are seeking better organization and indexing of web sites so that users know right away what information they offer. For example, psychologist Sara Kiesler, PhD, professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, is working with APA to streamline its web site. She wants the site to announce all its offerings and contact addresses for people at first click.
Fueled by information
People seek information from the web, e-mail, radio and TV because they believe it gives them a competitive edge, says Lewis.
Armed with the latest and best facts, stock market investors sell ahead, doctors save lives, students ace tests and lawyers win cases. Businesses absorb more information daily than ever before in their drive to get ahead, according to a survey published last year by the news service Reuters.
The survey, “Glued to the Screen: An Investigation into Information Addiction Worldwide,” polled 1,000 business managers around the globe about their perceptions of technology-generated information. More than 60 percent said the information surfeit has made them stressed and tense.
Lewis has found similar problems in focus groups he’s conducted with other managers, financial analysts and information workers. When inundated with data, they make more mistakes, misunderstand others and snap at co-workers and customers. The result can be flawed conclusions and foolish decisions, causing potentially great financial loss to companies.
Most Reuters respondents felt compelled to gather more information than ever before to keep up with customers and competitors, and they’ve found their leisure time steadily ebbing. Information technologies spur people to work from “5 to 9” in addition to “9 to 5,” says Lewis, who wrote the introduction to a similar 1996 Reuters report.
In a round of new journals and books, mental health experts are beginning to look further into the Internet’s effects on society. (The most recent example is the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior, launched last year.) There are few studies of the area so far, but psy-chologists are calling for more.
Web of chaos
Reuters’ survey respondents said the Internet has fueled the worldwide obsession with information. The media have gleefully pitched the Internet as the ultimate information tool, and it does unlock potential for global community, says psychologist Sherry Turkle, PhD, author of “Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet” (Simon & Schuster, 1995).
But people are realizing that more information does not equal better information, says Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Internet users spend hours on web searches that aren’t always fruitful, says Kimberly Young, PsyD, author the recent book “Caught in the Net” (John Wiley & Sons, 1998). Their in-boxes pile up with work as the medium seduces them with its vibrant colors, pulsing graphics and push-button interactivity.
As Lewis puts it: “One hundred percent serendipity equals utter chaos.” People forget that journals, encyclopedias and databases sometimes pinpoint a fact or figure faster, Lewis says. “If you’re thirsty, it’s sensible to stand under a faucet, not the Niagara Falls,” he says.
There is hope of fixing the problem, however, as people realize that they absorb facts best in doses, not a deluge, psychologists say.
“The way we use the Internet as a source of information will be radically rethought in the next decade because we need different kinds of tools to evaluate and make sense of online information,” says Turkle.
Hitting the ‘off’ switch
Because information technology is so new, people haven’t yet learned when to tune it out, which is key to averting information overload, say psychologists Weil and Rosen.
To help people handle the information flow, Weil and Rosen offer some tips:
• Sift and trash—Try to focus on the information you really need instead of news blips that distract. Think critically and separate the gems from the dross.
• Set limits—Ration the time you spend watching television, listening to the radio and cruising the Internet. Designate the best times for people to call or fax you.
• Respond on your own time—Disable the e-mail ding and turn off the ringer on the fax machine. You can respond after you’ve finished the task at hand.
• Relax when technology makes you wait—Instead of getting irritated while your e-mail boots or a company’s telephone system puts you on hold, use that time to rest or tend to small tasks.
• Use the technologies that work for you—You don’t have to acquire every new technology. If beepers and cell phones cause you stress, stick with voice mail.
• Schedule time away from information—Set aside slots for exercise, sports, dinner with friends and family vacations.
These strategies will keep information at a level we can deal with, says Rosen.
“We can’t just add something as powerful as the Internet into our lives without planning for its effects,” he says.
Further Reading
Several new books explore the effects of information technology in modern life, including:
• “Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut,” by David Shenk (Harper San Francisco, 1997).
• “What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives,” by Michael L. Dertouzos (Harper San Francisco, 1997).
• “Tendencies and Tensions of the Information Age,” by Jorge Reina Schement and Terry Curis (Transaction Publishers, 1997).