Unit V. Some Problems of Information Pollution.

“They live in wisdom who see themselves in all,

and all in them.”

Bhagavad Gita

Before you read Text 1

• How can you explain the statement given in the quotation of this unit?

• How do you understand the problem of information pollution?

• Why do you think this problem is especially important to solve nowadays?

As you read Text 1

• Choose the key words from the texts to characterize the problem of informational pollution.

• Find out the facts to describe the main points of the problem’s background.

• Give some examples of information pollution.

• Explain the parallels between the information revolution of the 20th century and the industrial revolution of the 18th-19th century.

Text 1. The Background of the Problem.

Information is power – for good, for bad. In a world of violence, poverty, and ecological crisis on the one side, as well as of peace movements, industrial productivity and scientific-technological development on the other, the production, storage, exchange, diffusion, selection and use of information has also become a key issue.

In the same way as we live not only from nature but also within it, we can say that our lives, as individuals as well as parts of different kinds of social systems, are dependent on the knowledge we share with others, as well as on the ways we make profit of it, i.e. on information. To consider nature just as a resource or as something we could (and should) transform without previously thinking on the consequences not only for ourselves but for the balance of life in this planet, has proved to be an irrational and irresponsible way of action. It is therefore time to ask ourselves on the consequences of our thinking and doing not only with regard to nature but also to the technologies we are using to manipulate ourselves. These are of two kinds: the biotechnology and the information technology. Modern information technology plays a major role in the process of shaping not only the ways we communicate but also all aspects of our individual and social life.

Information pollution (also referred to as "info pollution") is the contamination of information supply with irrelevant, redundant, unsolicited and low-value information. The spread of useless and undesirable information can have a detrimental effect on human activities. It is considered as one of the adverse effects of the information revolution.

The majority of the modern descriptions of information pollution apply to computer based communication methods, such as e-mail, instant messaging (IM) and RSS feeds. The term acquired particular relevance in 2003 when Jakob Nielsen, a leading web usability expert, published a number of articles discussing the topic. However, as early as 1971 researchers where expressing doubts about the negative effects of having to recover “valuable nodules from a slurry of garbage in which it is a randomly dispersed minor component.” People use information in order to make decisions and adapt to circumstances. Yet, cognitive studies have demonstrated that there is only so much information human beings can process before the quality of their decisions begins to deteriorate. The excess of information is commonly known as information overload and it can lead to decision paralysis, where the person is unable to make a judgment as they cannot see what is relevant anymore. Although technology has clearly exacerbated the problem, it is not the only cause of information pollution. Anything that distracts our attention from the essential facts that we need to perform a task or make a decision could be considered an information pollutant.

The term information pollution should be considered as the negative side of the information balance to be achieved. Some examples of information pollution are: wrong (or outdated) data, incompatibility of systems and languages, under-use of hardware, hacking, viruses, addressing systems to the wrong 'epistemic who', lack of responsibility of software suppliers.

The use of the term “information pollution” also draws attention to the parallels between the information revolution that began in the last quarter of the 20th century and the industrial revolution of the 18th-19th century. Information pollution is seen as the equivalent of the environmental pollution generated by industrial processes. Some authors claim that we are facing an information overload crisis of global proportions, in the same scale of the threats faced by the environment. Others have expressed the need for the development of an information ecology to mirror environmental management practices.

Information balance implies: re-use, recycling, free-flow, intelligent systems or, generally speaking, optimizing man's use of information and knowledge. Information is an artificial resource and it is basically social-dependent. We should try to think more specifically on the question to which information ecology is (or could be) the (or one) answer.

The ecology of the information landscape has to take basically into account the managerial (or bottom line) perspective of information. Handling information like other goods (according to its 'exchange value') does not necessarily means to forget its social dimension. Different levels of circulation and different quality measures should be integrated. A narrow-minded economic view damages (in the long term) itself. These ideas should be further discussed at the international level.

Before you read Text 2

• Look at the title of the text 2. What do you think the text tells us about?

• What is your vision of the Information Ecology problem?

As you read Text 2

• Which paragraphs contain the following information?

A Information is always relative to a theoretical or practical pre-understanding and it remains always something we can criticize.

B Two kinds of ecological problems: a monolithic control of the information technologies and the contents of the messages; transformation of information into an exchange value.

C Information has taken three centuries to open written knowledge to vast sectors of society.

D The necessity of limits to the expansion of non-controllable technical systems.

E The information technology opens us its potentialities if we are able to interrelate it with the whole of its social dimensions.

F Some ideas and opinions on information ecology.

Text 2. Some Dimensions of Information Ecology.

A Theory of Information Ecology.

The dissolution of the unity of knowledge and its becoming an exchange value are ecological dangers if we react by trying to impose a pure political control or by regarding passively their marketing process. In both cases we are loosing the chance of potential pluralism which this technology offers. This pluralism does not imply that with the electronic shaping of communication all other formal (for instance printing) and informal ways of human interaction are surmounted or obsolete. This is indeed one kind of pluralism to be ecologically protected and promoted. An information ecology does not have the easy task of saying: information technologies are per se of a uniform nature. Let us save the traditional value of, for instance, books. This kind of oppositions (books vs. information technology) fails to see the complexity and potential plurality within the technological shaping of knowledge representation and diffusion. But, on the other side, there is the open question, of how an interaction between different ways of communication can be organized, in order to be aware not only of the opportunities but also of the limitations inherent in each possibility, be it a technological one or not. If we do not pose this question, then we will have sooner or later, as in the case of non-responsible action towards nature, huge problems of information pollution. Some characters or dimensions can be attributed to the information phenomenon.

The social dimension. We have been used to considering information as something that just exists in our lives, as the atmosphere of a democratic society. But information is not a triviality. It has taken three hundred years to open written knowledge to vast sectors of society. This was not only a technical but also an educational as well as a socio-political process. We need, as at the time of the Enlightenment, a creative educational and cultural policy in our field. As with other fundamental human rights it is not enough to develop an ecological or even an ethical theory on them (or to put them in a declaration) but it is necessary to cultivate practical judgement concerning possible alternatives of action.

The linguistic dimension. The social character of information implies, secondly, the linguistic dimension. Language is not something added to society, but it is its very essence, i.e. our way of being. Some characteristics of linguistic information are: a) its criticability, b) its tacit dimension, and c) its partiality.

a) There is no pure information (as there are no pure facts) but information is always relative to a theoretical and/or practical pre-understanding. It remains always something we can criticize (and not just retrieve) - if we have learned (individually and socially) how to do it. We are responsible for this awareness.

b) Information is necessarily blind, i.e., we are responsible for the information we produce and use. This tacit dimension cannot be objectivised. This is particularly important in the case of expert systems.

c) Whereas modernity aimed at a systematic view of knowledge, we, at the end of modernity, are aware of its partial character. In other words, we are responsible for an open or fragile unity, taking into account the plurality of languages (cultural plurality, plurality of points of view etc.).

The historical dimension. Information as a social phenomenon implies, thirdly, the awareness of its historical dimension. The electronic revolution is neither the beginning of a paperless society nor it is a necessary historical step to be fulfilled by all countries and in the same way in the future. It is just a possibility, to be responsibly inserted within the richness of the past and the constraints of the present. The alternative is not between rejection or information colonialism but between different kinds of cultural and technical information mixtures – information is half-breed.

A Pragmatics of Information Ecology.

On the basis of these categorial analysis it is possible to define the concept of information pollution, as a basic pragmatic concept of an information ecology. It is considered at the two levels: within information rich societies and with regard to global interactions.

Towards an information ecology within information-rich societies.

The key ecological issue concerning the production, storage, accessibility, selection and use of all kinds of knowledge is then, the preservation and increase of its social character. Responsibility towards this character is one ecological measure, one measure for the ecological quality of our field. From this perspective we have to afford two kinds of ecological problems: first, a monolithic control of the state upon the information technologies and/or upon the contents of the messages, and secondly, the unbounded transformation of information into an exchange value. In other words, we should strive to see and establish differences between the necessary role of the state in preserving the right of general access to information, whereas on the other side we must preserve our rights as individuals from centralised political and/or market control.

This is a crucial ecological point, for instance, in the case of the German ISDN-Net (a step-by-step integration of different transmission networks for text, speech and images) one crucial ecological point, as it is being highlighted by Kubicek. According to Kubicek, the immanent ecological dangers of such a centralized system are: the possibility of a total breakdown; the weakness of the system against physical violence; the possibility of software manipulation.

Kubicek suggests the creation telecommunication systems with a limited range of options and possibilities. We should be careful not only with regard to the problems of data protection but also with the transformation of our homes into parts of the electronic marketplace. We must put limits to the expansion of non-controllable technical systems, for instance through decentralisation, through a differentiation of interest (or user) groups, as well as through the creation of specific legal norms. In other words, we must afford the ecological problems of uniformation which reduces the chances of plurality inherent to this technology. We can call this kind of information pollution, as it depends on the power or control on information, the power pollution.

With regard to the linguistic dimension, the problem is called message pollution. Information technologies are able to disseminate an incredible abundance of messages, without making explicit the contexts they arise from (there are no pure facts), the blindness of their own limitations, and the specific kind of partiality they are supposed to have. Human beings are more and more the victims or targets of a superabundance of messages (this is also the case within information-poor countries with regard to mass media). Umberto Eco has already pointed out, that the battle to be undertaken in this field should be considered primarily not as a strategic affair but as a matter of tactics. We can indeed try to rule the communication process at the level of the source or of the channel. But in neither one case nor in the other would we be influencing the message, i.e., the linguistic dimension. This happens only in the light of the codes at the destination. In other words, messages change their meaning according to the presuppositions of the interpreter, to his preunderstanding. Here, in the chairs in front of our TV sets and in front of every terminal, is where the linguistic battle takes place. This battle has not the scope as Eco rightly remarks, for leaving the information circle in which we are embedded. It is a question of how we prepare ourselves to cope with this situation, in order to control plurality through qualified interpretation. Eco suggests something that he calls the "cultural guerrilla", and he means, for instance, the possibility of using one medium to criticize another one. This is something we are already doing: newspaper articles criticize TV programmes, TV discussions criticize books, and so on. Other possibilities are those of "mass dissent": that is a field, where we could be more creative, organizing alternative networks and services, particularly for helping marginal groups inside or outside our societies, by offering international aid, by supporting peace and solidarity movements, etc. It is believed, that the field of scientific and technical information would also profit from this view: the artificial alternative between state support and/or private industry is only one segment of a plurality of alternative possibilities for different kinds of user groups. The currently one-sided view towards industry as the main user of electronic information is monomanic and distorts the potentialities of information technology. This is also the reason for a distortion of the question of the economic value of information, where this value is primarily measured from the viewpoint of industrial users.

The last point concerns so called historical dimension. Our field is full of futurological ideas, some of them planning the next millenium. We can pollute ourselves with all kinds of utopias, which lead us nowhere, or, more precisely, to abandon the responsibility for evaluating risks and chances of coordinating different possibilities for designing our knowledge universe and its channels, taking into account their specific quality. The slogan of a paperless society is an expression of historical pollution in our field. It is time to abandon the mode of technological grandiloquence and to look for more humble, i.e.. more specific ways of establishing the limits of this expanding technology, and to act responsible, conforming to the possibilities these limits offer! To see limits not as something negative but as the condition for plurality and interaction is a key point for the future of a technological society, i.e., for the insertion of technology within the complex of other traditions. This is of course not a plea for neo-conservativism. As it is an illusion to think of a pure technological society, it is also an illusion to believe that there is something like pure nature or an ideal communication we should conform to (or we could create artificially).

A more realistic view takes into account that there is no ideal harmony between human beings, no possibility of a perfect language for understanding and action, and that we are always confronted with misunderstanding and non-communication. Human communication is not just an object for technical manipulation nor it is something mystical. Information technology is not necessarily a pollution instrument nor it is an ideal artificial limb. We can profit from its own potentialities if we are able to integrate it within the complexity of human communication. If we develop one-sided media, then we should not forget, that human communication is double-tracked. If we isolate pieces of knowledge, then we should not forget that they get their meaning from specific situations and particularly from the receiver's code. If we distribute knowledge through different technical channels, then we should not forget the right to a general participation in societal knowledge. If we handle knowledge with machines, then we should not forget that human beings are not robots or flesh machines.

To close one's eyes to these (and other) ecological questions of the information society means to forget our responsibility in designing tools - the responsibility that, in designing tools we are designing "ways of being". Information tools are, or should be, primarily people's tools. The information technology opens us its potentialities if and only if we are able to interrelate it with the whole of its social dimensions. It is indeed an opportunity, maybe the opportunity for preserving and increasing social understanding, within as well as between different countries and cultures which belong to one world.

As you read Text 3

• Choose the words from the text to complete this summary of the text.

To solve the problem of the gap between ………….. and information-poor nations it is necessary to identify the ………… rights of all nations in the sphere of ……….. along with a recognition of the international needs for the ……….., transmission, and ………… of certain categories.

Text 3. A Global Information Ecology.

Under a global perspective, the question of information pollution can be stated as the problem of the gap between information-rich and information-poor nations.

It is a common view, that differences of races, religions, ideas, money etc. should be surmounted not by an ideology of egalitarianism but by giving individuals, as well as nations, similar chances of development, on the basis of equal rights and duties. The information difference, i.e., the difference between the information-poor and the information-rich has not been considered to be such a key issue as, for example, the economic one. One reason for this omission is that the gap has been growing slowly during that last three hundreds years. The advent of electronic technology has explicitly provided the question of dominance and accessibility to written knowledge, and it has made clear that this a key issue for the economic and cultural development of nations.

From this perspective to ask for the relations between Information and Quality means to ask for the ecological quality of the information field, for us the information-rich as well as for others, the information-poor. One key issue of an information ecology is to criticize this gap, theoretically and practically.

The powerful electronic technology has produced a change in the knowledge atmosphere, creating regions of prosperity, but leaving aside vast amounts of human beings in a high degree of ignorance and/or informational dependency. The gap between the information-poor and the information-rich, and not the overproduction of knowledge (there can never be too much knowledge) is the real information crisis we have to master. We, who are on the side of the information-rich, must ask ourselves what we are doing, for instance, in preserving the information market to become a closed market, i.e., a pollution factor for the outsiders and for ourselves (Matthew-principle). The crucial question is then not only the one of overcoming cultural or linguistic barriers, but of facing the dilemma produced by new forms of information colonialism on the one side, as well as by the possibilities of scientific and cultural interrelations opened by this technology on the other. The ecological challenge in our field is to find the right balance between overcoming and preserving or, in other words, between the blessings of universality and the need for preserving plurality (of cultures, languages, etc.) not only for its own sake (variety is beautiful!) but also because human problems and solutions always arise within specific situations and need specific deliberation.

The ecological crisis is becoming manifest, as for instance in case of problems of autonomous communication and information capacities, of rural areas without any technical and/or educational infrastructure, of lack of paper (and, of course, of any other kind of hard- and software), of one-sided commercialisation of information products, of cultural and technical colonialism through the distribution of information products and channels etc. In the case, for example, of scientific-technical information this dependency can (and has) become dramatic due to the acceleration of knowledge production and of its distribution through electronic means. This leads to lost of competitiveness, exodus of scientists, low level of education, and so on. The more information is produced, the bigger the gap. To this kind of information pollution we must add the question of contents, sources, distribution centers, fees, protectionist information policies etc.

The whole concept of "free flow" of information needs to be reevaluated without the present confusion and meaningless rhetoric. Free flow does not necessarily mean unfettered flow. There is a real need to identify the sovereign rights of all nations in the sphere of information along with a recognition of the international needs for the collection, transmission, and use of certain categories. Here we need a great deal of discussion and compromise at the highest level of international policy making.

In this international and ecological context the problems of data protection are, of course, crucial. As we are rethinking our views on political boundaries with regard to air and water pollution, we must start considering the question of information pollution particularly from a cultural, political and legal point of view (dominance, manipulation, criminal actions). The benefits and threats of the (mis)use of information technologies must become part of international (ethical and legal) deliberation.

Before you read Texts 4 and 5

• What do you think the main causes of information pollution are?

• What sources of information pollution are the most harmful?

• Does this problem concern you personally? In what way?

• What manifestations of information pollution are the most irritable for you?

• What can you do to disrupt information pollution?

Text 4. Causes and Sources of Information Pollution.

Cultural factors. A number of cultural factors have contributed to the growth of information pollution: information has been seen traditionally as a good thing. We are used to statements like “you cannot have too much information”, “the more information the better” and “information is power”. The publishing and marketing industries have been used to printing excessive copies of books, magazines and brochures regardless of customer demand, just in case they were needed.

As new technologies made it easier for information to reach the furthest corners of the planets, we have seen a democratization of information sharing. This is perceived as a sign of progress and individual empowerment, as well as a positive step to bridge the divide between the information poor and the information rich. However, it also has the effect of increasing the volume of information in circulation and making it more difficult to separate valuable from worthless material.

The role of information technology. As already mentioned, information pollution can exist without technology, but the technological advances of the 20th century and, in particular, the internet have played a key role in the increase of information pollution. Blogs, social networks, personal websites and mobile technology all contribute to increased “noise” levels. Some technologies are seen as especially intrusive (or polluting), for example instant messaging. Sometimes, the level of pollution caused depends on the environment in which the tool is being used. For example e-mail is likely to cause more information pollution when used in a corporate environment than in a private setting. Mobile phones are likely to be particularly disruptive when used in a confined space like a train carriage.

Text 5. Manifestations of Information Pollution.

Although information pollution can present itself in many formats, its manifestations can be broadly grouped into those that provoke disruption and those that affect the quality of the information.

Typical examples of disrupting information pollutants include unsolicited electronic messages (spam) and instant messages, particularly when used in the workplace. Mobile phones (the ring tones and also the actual conversation) can be very distracting in certain environments. Disrupting information pollution is not always technology based. A common example is unwanted publicity in any format. Superfluous messages, for example unnecessary labels on a map, also constitute an unnecessary distraction.

Alternatively, the information supply may be polluted when the quality of the information is reduced. This may be due to the information itself being inaccurate or out of date, but it also happens when the information is badly presented. For example, when the messages are unfocused or unclear or when they appear in cluttered, wordy or poorly organized documents that make it difficult for the reader to understand their meaning. This type of information pollution can be addressed in the context of information quality. Another example is in government work. Laws and regulations in many agencies are undergoing rapid changes and revisions. Government workers' handbooks and other sources used for interpreting these laws are often outdated (sometimes years behind the changes) which can cause the public to be misinformed, and businesses to be out of compliance with regulatory laws.

After you read Text 4 and 5

• Complete the following sentences according to the context:

1. As new technologies made it easier for information to reach the furthest corners of the planets, we …………………………………………………….

2. The technological advances of the 20th century and, in particular, the internet have played a key role in …………………………………………….

3. ………………………………………. and …………………. all contribute to increased “noise” levels.

4. E-mail is likely to cause ………………………………….. when used in a …………………………….. than in a ………………………...

5. …………………… (the ……………………………) can be very distracting in certain environments.

6. Some examples of disrupting information pollutants include …………………………… (………) and …………………., particularly when used in the workplace.

7. The quality of the ………. is reduced when the information itself is …….. or out of ………, but it also happens when the information is badly …………..

As you read Text 6. Does this text:

A give the origin of the term information overload?

B describe the general causes of information overload?

C contain the information on this problem in our country?

D describe the effects of this problems on human health?

E explain distinction between raw information and information in a form we use in thinking.

Text 6. Information Overload.

"Information overload" is a term coined by Alvin Toffler which refers to an excess amount of information being provided, making processing and absorbing tasks very difficult for the individual because sometimes we cannot see the validity behind the information.

As the world moves into a new era of globalization, an increasing number of people are connecting to the Internet to conduct their own research and are given the ability to produce as well as consume the data accessed on an increasing number of websites. Users are now classified as active users because more people in society are participating in the Digital and Information Age. More and more people are considered to be active writers and viewers because of their participation. This flow has created a new life where we are now dependent on access to information. Therefore we see an information overload from the access to so much information, almost instantaneously, without knowing the validity of the content and the risk of misinformation.

According to Sohora Jha, journalists are using the web to conduct their research, getting information regarding interviewing sources and press releases, updating news online, and thus it shows the gradual shifts in attitudes because of the rapid increase in the Internet. Lawrence Lessig has described this as the "read-write" nature of the internet.

Origin. A quite early example of the term information overload can be found in an article by Jacob Jacoby, Donald Speller and Carol Kohn Berning, who conducted an experiment on 192 housewives which was said to confirm the hypothesis that more information about brands would lead to poorer decision making. But long before that, the idea was introduced by Diderot, although it wasn't by the term 'information overload': "As long as the centuries continue to unfold, the number of books will grow continually, and one can predict that a time will come when it will be almost as difficult to learn anything from books as from the direct study of the whole universe. It will be almost as convenient to search for some bit of truth concealed in nature as it will be to find it hidden away in an immense multitude of bound volumes." – Denis Diderot, "Encyclopédie" (1755).

General causes. The general causes of information overload include:

• A rapidly increasing rate of new information being produced;

• The ease of duplication and transmission of data across the Internet;

• An increase in the available channels of incoming information (e.g. telephone, e-mail, instant messaging, rss);

• Large amounts of historical information to dig through;

• Contradictions and inaccuracies in available information;

• A low signal-to-noise ratio;

• A lack of a method for comparing and processing different kinds of information;

• The pieces of information are unrelated or do not have any overall structure to reveal their relationships.

E-mail remains a major source of information overload, as people struggle to keep up with the rate of incoming messages. As well as filtering out unsolicited commercial messages (spam), users also have to contend with the growing use of e-mail attachments in the form of lengthy reports, presentations and media files.

A December 2007 New York Times blog post described E-mail as "a $650 Billion Drag on the Economy", and the New York Times reported in April 2008 that "E-MAIL has become the bane of some people's professional lives" due to information overload, yet "none of the current wave of high-profile Internet startups focused on email really eliminates the problem of e-mail overload because none helps us prepare replies".

In addition to e-mail, the World Wide Web has provided access to billions of pages of information. In many offices, workers are given unrestricted access to the Web, allowing them to manage their own research. The use of search engines helps users to find information quickly. However, information published online may not always be reliable, due to the lack of authority-approval or a compulsory accuracy check before publication. This results in people having to cross-check what they read before using it for decision-making, which takes up more time.

Many academics, corporate decision-makers, and federal policy-makers recognize the magnitude and growing impact of this phenomenon. In June 2008 a group of interested researchers from a diverse set of corporations, smaller companies, academic institutions and consultancies created the Information Overload Research Group (IORG), a non-profit interest group dedicated to raising awareness, sharing research results and promoting the creation of solutions around Information Overload.

Recent research suggests that an "attention economy" of sorts will naturally emerge from information overload, allowing Internet users greater control over their online experience with particular regard to communication mediums such as e-mail and instant messaging. This could involve some sort of cost being attached to e-mail messages. For example, managers charging a small fee for every e-mail received - e.g. $5.00 - which the sender must pay from their budget. The aim of such charging is to force the sender to consider the necessity of the interruption. However, such a suggestion undermines the entire basis of the popularity of e-mail, namely that e-mails are free.

Some cognitive scientists and graphic designers have emphasized the distinction between raw information and information in a form we can use in thinking. In this view, information overload may be better viewed as organization underload. That is, they suggest that the problem is not so much the volume of information but the fact that we can't discern how to use it well in the raw or biased form it is presented to us. Authors who have taken this tack include graphic artist and architect Richard Saul Wurman (the man who coined the phrase "information architect") and statistician and cognitive scientist Edward Tufte. Wurman uses the term "information anxiety" to describe our attitude toward the volume of information in general and our limitations in processing it. Tufte primarily focuses on quantitative information and explores ways to organize large complex datasets visually to facilitate clear thinking.

After you read Text 6. Look at the texts and try to find:

1. words which explain the term information overload;

2. adjectives which describe the causes of information overload;

3. verbs which describe the struggle with this problem;

4. nouns which explain the matter of the information overload problem.

As you read Texts 7. Read these questions and choose the best answer:

1. According to the text 7 the information overload can cause loss of

A health and low quality;

B perspective and moral values.

2. The term a personal level in the text means:

A the individual are able to evaluate options and find adequate solutions;

B the state of individuals when the information overload paralyses and stresses them.

3. The range of solutions to the problem of information pollution is based on:

A personal management techniques;

B personal / organizational management techniques and technology.

Text 7. The Effects of Information Pollution.

The effects of information pollution can be seen at a number of levels, from the individual to society in general. The impact on a commercial organization is likely to be particularly detrimental.

Effects on the individual. At a personal level, information pollution will affect the capacity of the individual to evaluate options and find adequate solutions. In the most extreme case it can lead to information overload and this in turn to anxiety, decision paralysis and stress.

Effects on society. Aside from its impact on the individual, some authors argue that information pollution and information overload can cause loss of perspective and moral values. This argument has been used to explain the indifferent behaviour that modern society shows towards certain topics such as scientific discoveries, health warnings or politics. Because of the low quality and large quantity of the information received, people are becoming less sensitive to headlines and more cynical towards new messages.

Impact on business. As decision making is a key part of the business world information pollution may cause employees to become burdened with information overload and stress and therefore make slower or inadequate decisions. Increased information processing time easily translates into loss of productivity and revenue. Flawed decision making will also increase the risk of critical errors taking place. Work interruptions caused by e-mail and instant messaging can also add considerably to wasted time and efficiency losses.

Proposed solutions. A number of solutions to the problem of information pollution have been proposed. These range from those based on personal and organizational management techniques to the type based on technology.

Among the technology-based alternatives are the use of decision support systems and internet control panels which enable prioritization of information. It has also been advocated that technologies that create frequent interruptions should be replaced with less “polluting” options. At an organizational level, some of the solutions proposed include the enforcement of e-mail usage policies and the development of an information integrity assurance strategy, in similar lines to existing quality assurance frameworks. Time management and stress management techniques can be applied at a personal or organizational level. This would involve setting priorities and minimizing the opportunities for interruptions. As an individual, writing clearly and concisely would also help to minimize information pollution effects on others.

After you read Texts 4, 5 and 7

• Complete the table below with answers from the texts:

Influence of information pollution ON…	Causes and sources of information pollution	Manifestations of information pollution	Effects of information pollution	Possible solutions
Individuals
Society
Business
Linguistics

Fast Facts

• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.

• There are over 200 million registered users on MySpace; if MySpace were a country, it would be the 5^th largest in the world (between Indonesia and Brazil).

• We are living in exponential times: there are 31 Billion searchers on Google every month; in 2006, this number was 2,7 Billion; to whom were these questions addressed B.G.(Before Google)?

• The first commercial text message was sent in December 1992. Today the number of text messages sent and received everyday, exceeds the total population of the planet.

• Years it took to reach a market audience of 50 million

Radio – 38 years

TV – 13 years

Internet – 4 years

iPod – 3 years

Facebook – 2 years

• The number of internet devices in 1984 was 1.000;

In 1992 – 1.000.000

In 2008 – 1. 000.000.000

• There are about 540.000 words in the English language; about 5X as many as during Shakespeare’s times.

• It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18^th century.

• The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years; for students starting a 4 year technical degree this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

• NTT Japan has successfully tested a fiber optic cable, that pushes 14 trillion bits per second down a single strand of fiber. That is 2.660 CDs or 210 million phone calls every second. It is currently tripling every 6 months and is expected to so for the next 20 years.

• During 5 minutes stretch (while you’re reading this)…

67 babies were born in the USA

274 babies were born in China

395 babies were born in India

And … 694.000 songs were downloaded illegally.