We live in a world with endless possibilities. These endless possibilities have enabled us to look at life with several different perspectives and also help us to gather all the information around us in ways previous generations thought were inconceivable. Naturally, the over-reliance on these ways of gathering information has some derogatory effects on people as a whole.
This all reached a pinnacle with the advent of the Internet. The Internet, as we know it, is a gigantic participant in the worldwide cause of transmitting and receiving information and has been since its introduction in the 1970’s.
As expected from this marvelous creation, it has managed to entice the whole world with its usefulness and is the primary source of all the information the society currently has on almost every topic in the world.
But as they say what goes up must come down, it certainly happened with the Internet as its use caused the spark of cyber-threats, software piracy among more problems to reveal themselves. It has also become a hassle to organize ourselves in this modern age even though we have the luxury of the Internet since the society cannot control what it wants from the Internet and thus feels over-stressed for not having complete authority on the information, they receive from it.
This overabundance of information is causing many people to suffer from stress at what they can and cannot control. The list of effects that this overload of information is having on society, their cause and ways to organize the information we receive are given below:
Effects on the society due to availability of extra information:
The overload of information was not as much of a problem in the beginning but the problems manifested when our over-reliance on the usefulness of the Internet reached a great height. This caused different ways of receiving information which was certainly too much for the normal people and caused stress to promulgate in them.
Thus, the society now has no way of preventing unnecessary information from spreading all over. This is a very big disadvantage since some information must be kept under lock and key especially from children but this overload has caused this unnecessary information to reach every nook and corner in the world.
Main causes of overload of information:
The world is like an interconnected web due to the vast influence sphere of the Internet. All the components of this web must be in complete harmony with each other to ensure an easy to access contents of information but what we do not realize is that the silk of this web is crisscrossing in many different points.
Thus, causing unnecessary information to make its way to suitable information distributes and this is causing an information overload to burst from every place of this web. This is the main cause of information overload. We need to keep this in check by all means possible.
Prevention of overload of information:
It will not be an exaggeration to say we are suffering from a severe case of submergence which is out of our control and all of our efforts are thwarted since we cannot assess the flow properly. For us to assess this accordingly we need to make use of the correct tools which require skills that are ironically obtained from information but in very small or controlled amounts.
The prevention process can be initiated using simple measures which include restrictions on certain ways of obtaining information that is not suitable for people. Although, some people prefer having a lot of information, we cannot deny the fact that majority of people prefer limited information. The main steps to be taken in this case should be the following:
Regular maintenance of sensitive information sources:
There are certain places people can gather information from that should rather not be listed in this article. We must keep in mind that we cannot control how a person will act but the least we can do is put up barriers that may allow us to stop their descent into the thick of things that are not of their concern.
This case is especially prevalent for children since they are not to be subjected to such things. This requires regular maintenance of certain places that may cause someone’s data to go into the wrong hands and cause harmful effects to people as a whole.
Taking correct breaks at correct times:
It has been noticed that people in this age try to overexert themselves just to prove a point and hence try and obtain information without rest and not taking any breaks, causing them mental feebleness thus leading to stress. This needs to be prevented so that the society can work properly without any distractions of trying to contest for just being shown on the right side a deal.
It can also be said that we should not take breaks all the time and also take breaks at appropriate times. This practice should be implemented so that satisfactory results can be produced.
Going slow:
Slow and steady wins the race is a proverb almost everyone is familiar with. The same can be said in the process of gathering information so that we are not overwhelmed by the stampede of information making a beeline for their position.
To prevent this, we can follow a simple method of causing slowly and digesting up the received information in small globules so that we can easily digest all of the information we receive and not be crushed under the weight of the overload of information.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, we as a society must understand that even though gathering information is a good practice, its overuse can cause harmful and downright dangerous effects on the fragile mentality of certain members of society.
We need to keep a sharp eye on all the information sources all over and not allow sensitive information to escape or even allow too much correct information to fall in the wrong hands. This all must be done to avoid over-stressing due to extra availability of information.
