| Summary: | Abstract Purpose/Aim: In my essay I study the use of Internet with information overload as my perspective. I compare two age groups in order to find out whether there is a difference between generations in how they use the Internet and experience the vast amount of information that is found on the net. Material/Method: I gather information from six frequent World Wide Web users to find out whether they are experiencing information overload when using the Internet in their spare time and how they structure and make sense of the vast amount of information that is found on the net. I use semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative, not quantitative, material for my study. I have also used literature and websites on information overload, the Internet, and connected themes in order to get a broader picture of the subject and help me analyse the material. Main results: The main results of my study are that frequent Internet users do not feel that they suffer from the vast amount of information found on the World Wide Web. They rather enjoy it and if they have heard the term information overload they assume that it does not apply to their use of the Internet. They have special routines to help them structure up and make sense of the information. The differences between the age groups are minor. The younger group draws a parallel between knowing about computers and knowing how to use the Internet whereas the older group thinks of information searching skills as a measure of how good you are at using the Internet. The younger ones were more likely than the older ones to get ideas from commercials on what to look for on the net. Almost every respondent described a difference between generations during the interview. They thought that the elderly people using the net are more likely to suffer from information overload. The result of the study does though show that age does not matter very much in this case. The time you spend using the Internet is more important: After learning the basic methods you can learn how to structure up and find information while using the net. Keywords: Internet, website, homepage, discussion group, newsgroup, community, e-mail, eshop, online entertainment, online games, search engine, communication, case study, information overload.
|
|---|
