According to the Pew Research Center most Americans don't feel they are overloaded with information. They feel completely at ease with all the information available right at their fingertips.
An article in NPR mention that signs of information overload include headaches, insomnia and uncontrolled eye twitches. The following signs were inhibited by about 1,440 of the listeners who participated in the survey conducted by the Note to Self Podcast early this year. Despite these signs, a majority of respondents still want more information.
The study was conducted in April where the Pew Research Center interviewed over 1,500 individuals aged 18 and up. Results showed that the number of people feeling overwhelmed by too much information actually went down to 20% from 27% just 10 years ago.
The survey also revealed that 75% of the participants prefer having access to more information and 66% say that having a lot of information actually makes life simpler.
Incidentally, the research also show that people with more access to information, those that have computers, tablets and smartphones don't feel that much overloaded with information with 84% of the survey participants having multiple channels or sources liked being able to access whatever they needed conveniently.
Another thing that researchers observed is that those who had lesser access to information, those with lesser gadgets and technologically challenged are more anxious about information compared to those who are overloaded with it.
According to the report Americans who own fewer gadgets have more trouble locating information. They are also less confident and experiences more stress dealing with information.
In terms of managing information, people handle it well in their own terms. Data gathering and information management becomes bothersome to them when it involves outside entities like banks, schools or government agencies.
The study was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and written by Senior Researcher John B. Horrigan with Lee Rainie, Andrew Perrin, Aaron Smith, and Claudia Deane.
