Information Society Essay

Information Society refers to a society “in which creation, distribution and manipulation of information has become the most significant economic and cultural activity.” (Whatls) It is a society where the information becomes the key product or essential to other products within an economy. Living in an information society has exposed us to extensive amounts of information. However, the quality of information is highly dependent on a myriad of factors such as open source movements, personalization and the environment in which we access the information (Quintero, 4/1/2014). These new trends have allowed internet users to post their opinions/ ideas through multiple avenues (e.g. social media websites, blogs), leading to a society where immense data is created without tight quality controls. The increased exposure to extensive information has also had profound impact on the attention span of individuals and their ability to comprehend the information accurately. This is evidenced in the article “Multitasking” by Tisha Bender, which looks at the negative impacts of multitasking (an effect of information society on individuals). Thus, in order to overcome these issues, the society needs to overcome the digital divide, apply credibility in search engine evaluations, build collections of credible sources and put pressure on traditional media to provide plausible information.
The relationship between living in an information society and access to high quality, credible information is significant. The article, “Who’s not online and why” by Kathryn Zickuhr illustrates that 85% of Americans use the internet through multiple avenues (Zickuhr, 2013) Thus, it is important to assess the quality of information they these users get to depict the e...

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...e specialized results under the collection- helping them stay focused and away from other tedious distractions) Last but not least, immense pressure should be put on traditional media to provide ethical and credible information. In this age where an individual can blog and tweet, the onus is on traditional media to provide plausible information. This required change in traditional media was also demanded by The World Summit on the Information Society in 2013. ("Traditional news media," 2013)
Thus, it is evident that individuals are faced with many issues in this economy based on information and knowledge. The gaps between individuals make it difficult to overcome the digital divide and get access to credible information. However, in order to overcome these issues, major changes need to occur in how the information is organized and presented through search engines.