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December 7, 2016 by Gary Price

New Report from Pew Research: Information Overloaded Not a Problem For a Large Majority of Americans

December 7, 2016 by Gary Price

From the Pew Research Center:

The large majority of Americans do not feel that information overload is a problem for them, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Fully 77% of adults surveyed say they like having so much information at their fingertips. Only 20% of those surveyed report feeling overloaded by information, a decline from 27% in 2006.
Fewer Americans feel overloaded by information than did so a decade ago
The survey finds that those who own more tech devices are also the ones who feel more on top of the data and media flows in their lives.
Americans are confident they can use digital gadgets to meet information demands
Those who are more likely to feel information overload have less technology as well as poorer, less educated and older.
The demographics of Americans who feel information overload
One quarter (25%) of those with annual household incomes of $30,000 or less say they feel overloaded by information, as well as 24% of those with high school diplomas or less and 31% of those ages 65 and older.
Those with more digital gadgets are more active information searchers
The report considers how Americans cope with information demands in their lives and how they feel about the volume of information they encounter. Among the key findings:

  • 81% of adults say this statement describes them “very well” or “somewhat well”: “I feel confident in my ability to use the internet and other communications devices to keep up with information demands in my life.”
  • 81% say this statement describes them “very well” or “somewhat well”: “Most of the time, it is easy for me to determine what information is trustworthy.”
  • 79% say this statement describes them “very well” or “somewhat well”: “Having a lot of information makes me feel like I have more control over things in my life.”

While most Americans feel confident in dealing with information, noteworthy numbers have some level of unease with keeping up with information demands. Nearly half (46%) say the institutions they deal with – such as schools, banks or government agencies – expect them to do too much information gathering.
These are among the findings from the new report, which is based on a nationally representative survey conducted March 7-April 4, 2016, among 1,520 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Direct to Complete Report (HTML) ||| Direct to PDF Version
 

Filed under: Data Files, News

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About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.

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