Reuters Study Reveals Growing Danger Of Information Addiction Worldwide And A New Generation Of Dataholics

- Information could become the ‘drug of the nineties’ -

(December 9, 1997) - People around the world are becoming information addicts because they are dealing with more information, the results of a new independent survey commissioned by Reuters revealed today.

The study, Glued to the Screen: An investigation into information addiction worldwide, shows that we are witnessing the rise of a new generation of ‘dataholics’. Based on a survey of 1,000 people in the UK, US, Ireland, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong, the survey shows that over half of respondents 'crave' information, while almost 50% claim that if information was a recognized drug, they would know people who would be considered as addicted.

Three quarters of people believe that PCs, the Internet and information generally will become addictive in the future, while 54% claim to get a 'high' when they find information they have been seeking.

Information addiction is not only confined to the workplace. Fifty five per cent of parents interviewed expressed concern that their children were turning into info-junkies, due to the vast amount of electronic information available. Seventy two per cent believe that Internet use will exacerbate obsessive information-gathering.

Nearly half of all parents surveyed said that children prefer PCs to their peers, and 36% were extremely worried that their children were over-exposed to information. Eighty six per cent believe that schools and colleges should be doing more to prepare the next generation to deal effectively with their information load.

Dr. Kimberly S. Young, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, commented, "The Internet only feeds America's ‘fast food’ mentality towards information. People are craving immediate access to the most up-to-date, current information and then find themselves trapped in enormous information gluts."

Andrew Nibley, executive vice president, Reuters America Holdings said: "This report shows that people all over the world are having a difficult time dealing with information, often when simply trying to do their jobs. It also suggests that our children will have to face the same problems in the future. Reuters wants to alert companies to this growing problem, so they can take steps to help their staff manage and prioritize information and avoid these problems both at work and at home."

The results of this survey build on Reuters 1996 report, Dying for Information? An Investigation into the Effects of Information Overload in the US and Worldwide, which found that increasing numbers of people suffer ill health due to the stress of information overload, and also predicted that the Internet would play a primary role in aggravating the problem further.

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Reviewed: 03/2006