Abstract
In this digital age, the 21st century, information is being bombarded from all directions, whether social media, website surfing, other news apps, or something from somewhere. We all are inundated with a variety of information sources, leading to what is known as knowledge overload. Also, we get most of the information from the people we spend time with. In this blog, we have covered what knowledge overload is, its symptoms, how it can affect our lives, how many people are affected, and how our platform ‘Feedants’ helps people contact the correct people who have excelled in their fields. Finally, how can we get rid of these? Some tips and solutions?
Understanding the definition of Knowledge (Information) overload:
According to the definition given by Wikipedia, “ Information overload, also known as ( Infobesity, intoxication, information anxiety, or information explosion) is the difficulty in understanding an issue and effectively making decisions when one has too much information about that issue and is generally associated with the excessive quantity of daily. ” The unnecessary information that we try to consume at once. That’s the cause of information overload. Now, we will try to understand how it happens.
How it happens: We will try to find out the answer to this question: Why does it happen, and what are the main reasons?
There is no particular reason we can call out; different people can have other causes. Given below are some reasons:
1) Ubiquitous access to information has been provided to our fingers in this digital age and inundated form of information. With just one click, we can access thousands of websites and gallons of information in a few minutes. This can behave both like a boon or curse.
2) Second, one of the significant roles in this is social media; the content you watch and share with others plays a vital role in shaping knowledge overload. Also, your peer group on the social media with whom you interact.
3) Wrong information: It’s been witnessed several times that different websites share different views or conflicting information on the same fact, which leads to confusion in the reader’s mind.
4) Thirdly, FOMO( Fear of Missing Out ), people always try to compel the trend and be up-to-date with all news, information, and developments. This fear leads people to consume vast amounts of information or, we can say, unnecessary information. It may lead to making the wrong decisions in life.
5) Today, people work multiple tasks simultaneously, checking emails, managing social media, and news updates while working. Frequent switches between functions can contribute to overload.
6) Most people need help filtering the information they grasp; they cannot process what they should remember.
As we said, it depends on your social circle, with whom you spend your time. Are you sharing some helpful information or sharing unnecessary posts which may lead to knowledge overload?
Enter FEEDANTS — a solution to this conundrum. It offers a platform to engage with a community of like-minded individuals eager to learn or have achieved expertise in their respective fields. Here, the focus shifts from sharing memes, videos, and trivial posts to exchanging knowledge. Rather than inundating your network with random content, FEEDANTS encourages you to share your learning journey, achievements, and aspirations for future learning.
How do we know whether we are suffering from it or not?
If we see what are the symptoms of knowledge overload. Much knowledge will lead you to immense confusion. You will be unable to deal with the topics or issues because it will be more complex for you to manage things. You will start facing poor decision-making, delaying the decision-making, which can make you slow. If you are experiencing a drop in productivity or burnout, it may be due to overload. If you see yourself as an information Bias, Developing biases and making decisions based on limited information rather than a well-rounded perspective and needing help setting priorities, struggling to determine what information is essential or relevant [1].
How it affects our daily lives:
The major setback of knowledge overload is that it may cause physical health problems if exposed to prolonged information overload, leading to headaches, eye strain, and sleep disturbance. This can impact your relationships or social interactions.
Loss of work-life balances. Sometimes, you may have an irritable mood, making it difficult for you to concentrate.
In this world where information influx on our mobile phones can be a severe problem because, as per the reports by The World Economic Forum, if we go with the same rate of data creation, then there would be 463 billion of data will be produced each day by 2025.
Here are the tips on how we can get rid of information/ knowledge overload:
1) Firstly, we need to modify our information consumption. We must reduce the checking of notifications, media sites, and all other information we consume daily.
2) Setting an information limit can be very useful when choosing what can be beneficial. We should consider the tracking details of what we consume or how it makes us feel.
3) Thirdly, this can be vital in managing the knowledge overload. Consuming information with a plan may sound alarming, but it will help. Your reading time should be limited to 30 minutes. Choose a specific article length, like reading only one or two pages of the book daily and not reading things that excite you but reading what can help you.
4) You don’t have to read from any sources; read-only from a legitimate source we can trust. Many information sources need to have relevant information or correct information.
5) Some apps and websites summarize all the daily information that can benefit you because there will be no unwanted information.
6) Use filters and blockers for the website for reading. Several filters block ads that can interrupt your concentration and workflow.
Lastly, which can help your overall daily life, take a break from your work away from all devices, and go for a walk, jog, or meditate, which can regain your healthy mental state [2].
Conclusion
From this, we have seen that knowledge overload is a big problem in this digital realm. Although it seems small, if you integrate it at a more significant level, it does affect people. In this blog, we have shed some light on how it happens and how it affects people in different areas, whether personal or corporate life. So, as we head toward the future, data creation will exponentially increase, so it's significant to adopt strategies to manage information effectively.
In this blog, we discussed how to get rid of these and manage the information effectively.
REFERENCES
1) [1] K. van der Horst, “The dangers of information overload and how to prevent it,” Workspace 365, https://workspace365.net/en/the-dangers-of-information-overload-and-how-to-prevent-it/#:~:text=Psychologists%20report%20that%20information%20stress,%2C%20burn%2Dout%20or%20depression (accessed Sep. 5, 2023).
2) [1] Information overload: Definition, causes and how to avoid it, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/information-overload (accessed Sep. 5, 2023).
