INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Information overload refers to the addiction towards unlimited information available on the
internet. The addict in this case finds a craving for searching and reading information of his
interest on the internet. It often results in stress and anxiety related disorders. The term information
overload was first coined by the great futurist and writer Alwin Toffler in his book future shock.
According to Alwin Toffler, future shock is too much change in too short a period of time. The
concept of future shock revolves around the changes that are taking place with regard to
individuals and society. In this book, Toffler projects the concept of information overload as a
psychological disorder caused due to abundance of information availability.
The amount of information on the internet has been growing in leaps and bounds. Such a
great magnitude of information development and that too at such a rapid pace has led to an
information explosion of sorts. More and more number of internet users are becoming victims of
information overload as there are flooded with information sourced from a large numbers of web
sites, e-mails, blogs, reviews, messages, social networking sites etc. the consumption of such a
huge volume of information is increasingly becoming difficult for the users and thus causing
anxiety, irritation and stress. One of the best precautionary measures for protecting oneself from
information overload is to consume the information in a systematic and precise manner instead of
bulk consumption.