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It explains how overload has been framed as both a major problem and a non-issue, reviews the many names used for the phenomenon, and proposes a workable understanding based on hindrance rather than help. The discussion highlights evolving causes across disciplines and emphasizes coping strategies, better system design, personal information management, and digital media literacy.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/information-overload-an-overview/148239/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/information-overload-an-overview/148239.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"\tWilliam","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-17","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does the document define information overload?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"It describes overload as a situation where so much relevant and potentially useful information is available that it becomes a hindrance instead of a help.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"Why does the document argue information overload is not limited to modern digital environments?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"It provides historical perspective, noting concerns about “too much to read” existed for many centuries and that the essential nature of overload has not changed even as technology evolved.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What strategies does the document suggest to avoid or reduce overload?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"It points to coping strategies such as filtering, withdrawing, queuing, and “satisficing,” alongside better information system design, effective personal information management, and promoting digital and media literacies.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},148239,1787777649,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},5909887254083,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","City Research Online  \nCity St George’s, University of London  \nCitation: Bawden, D. & Robinson, L. (2020) . Information Overload: An Overview. In: Oxford Encyclopedia of Political Decision Making. . Oxford: Oxford University  \nPress. doi: 10. 1093/acrefore/9780190228637 .013.1360 This is the accepted version of the paper.  \nThis version of the publication may differ from the final published version. To cite this item please consult the publisher's version.  \nPermanent repository link: [https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/23544/](https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/23544/)  \n[Link to published version:](Link to published version:)  \n[https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1360](https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1360)  \nCopyright and Reuse: Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, unless otherwise indicated, provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. For full details of reuse please refer to City Research Online policy.  \nCity Research Online:  [http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/](http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/  publications@citystgeorges.ac.uk)[ ](http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/  publications@citystgeorges.ac.uk)[ publications@citystgeorges.ac.uk](http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/  publications@citystgeorges.ac.uk)  \nInformation Overload: an overview  \nDavid Bawden and Lyn Robinson  \nSummary  \nFor almost as long as there has been recorded information, there has been a perception that humanity has been overloaded by it. Concerns about 'too much to read' have been expressed for many centuries, and made more urgent since the arrival of ubiquitous digital information in the late twentieth century. The historical perspective is a necessary corrective to the often, and wrongly, held view that it is associated solely with the modern digital information environment, and with social media in particular. However, as society fully experiences Floridi's Fourth Revolution, and moves into hyper-history (with society dependent on, and defined by, information and communication technologies) and the infosphere (a information environment distinguished by a seamless blend of online and offline information actvity), individuals and societies are dependent on, and formed by, information in an unprecedented way, information overload needs to be taken more seriously than ever.  \nOverload has been claimed to be both the major issue of our time, and a complete non-issue. It has been cited as an important factor in, inter alia, science, medicine, education, politics, governance, business and marketing, planning for smart cities, access to news, personal data tracking, home life, use of social media, and online shopping, and has even influenced literature  \nThe information overload phenomenon has been known by many different names, including: information overabundance, infobesity, infoglut, data smog, information pollution, information fatigue, social media fatigue, social media overload, information anxiety, library anxiety, infostress, infoxication, reading overload, communication overload, cognitive overload, information violence, and information assault. There is no single generally  \naccepted definition, but it can best be understood as that situation which arises when there is so much relevant and potentially useful information available that it becomes a hindrance rather than a help. Its essential nature has not changed with changing technology, though its causes and proposed solutions have changed much.  \nThe best ways of avoiding overload, individually and socially, appear to lie in a variety of coping strategies, such as filtering, withdrawing, queuing, and 'satisficing'. Better design of information syst","cbCaio66XWyroXBR","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaio66XWyroXBR","pdf",348745,61,"English","# Summary\n## Historical perspective and context\n## Definitions, names, and core understanding\n## Impacts across domains\n## Coping strategies and solutions\n# Introduction\n## Background quotations and framing","[{\"question\":\"How does the document define information overload?\",\"answer\":\"It describes overload as a situation where so much relevant and potentially useful information is available that it becomes a hindrance instead of a help.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the document argue information overload is not limited to modern digital environments?\",\"answer\":\"It provides historical perspective, noting concerns about “too much to read” existed for many centuries and that the essential nature of overload has not changed even as technology evolved.\"},{\"question\":\"What strategies does the document suggest to avoid or reduce overload?\",\"answer\":\"It points to coping strategies such as filtering, withdrawing, queuing, and “satisficing,” alongside better information system design, effective personal information management, and promoting digital and media literacies.\"}]","Information Overload: an Overview | PDF",154]