Perceptions of Information Overload in the American Home

Home , Balloon boy hoax

The Information Society, 28: 161–173, 2012 Copyright c Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0197-2243 print / 1087-6537 online DOI: 10.1080/01972243.2012.669450

Taming the Information Tide: Perceptions of Information Overload in the American Home

Eszter Hargittai Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

W. Russell Neuman Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Olivia Curry School of Communication, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

In the last few decades Americans have integrated ca- This study reports on new media adopters’ perceptions of and ble television, the Internet, smart phones, blogging, and reactions to the shift from push broadcasting and headlines to online social networking into their lives, engaging a much the pull dynamics of online search. From a series of focus groups more diverse, interactive, always-on media environment. with adults from around the United States we find three dominant As was the case with most previous developments in media themes: (1) Most feel empowered and enthusiastic, not overloaded; technology, a few proponents have trumpeted the virtues (2) evolving forms of social networking represent a new manifes- of these devices (Negroponte 1995), but most academics tation of the two-step flow of communication; and (3) although and authors in the popular media are moved to warn of critical of partisan “yellers” in the media, individuals do not re- dire, dystopic consequences (Wartella & Reeves 1985). port cocooning with the like-minded or avoiding the voices of those There are concerns about sensory overload (Beaudoin with whom they disagree. We also find that skills in using digital 2008; Berghel 1997), media addiction (Byun et al. 2009; media matter when it comes to people’s attitudes and uses of the new opportunities afforded by them. Young 1998), a weakening of social and communication skills (Bauerlein 2008; Richtel 2010), loss of the capacity for sustained concentration (Carr 2008), political polariza- Keywords information overload, Internet, social media, sensational- tion (Sunstein 2001), social fragmentation (Turow 1997), ism, web use skill and possible further declines in the vitality of the public Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 sphere (Neuman, Bimber, & Hindman 2011). Many of the experts appear to be convinced that the typical new media consumer is overwhelmed. We set out to explore whether the typical new media consumer actually feels that way.

Received 23 May 2011; accepted 15 February 2012. The authors are grateful to David Poltrack of CBS and Becky Mills THE INFORMATION OVERLOAD HYPOTHESIS of CBS Television City for assistance in this project. They thank the The subtitle of Todd Gitlin’s Media Unlimited captures anonymous reviewers and Harmeet Sawhney for helpful feedback. The the spirit of the published literature on the new media en- first author thanks the Northwestern School of Communication’s In- vironment particularly well—“How the Torrent of Images novations Fund for assistance. The first and third authors are grateful and Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives.” The words “over- to the Northwestern University Residential College Fellow Assistant Researcher Award program for its support. whelmed” and “overloaded” are frequently in evidence. Address correspondence to Eszter Hargittai, Communication Stud- Gitlin goes on to warn: “It is clear that the media flow into ies Department, Northwestern University, 2240 Campus Dr, Evanston, the home—not to mention outside—has swelled into a tor- IL 60208, USA. E-mail: [email protected] rent of immense force and constancy, an accompaniment

161 162 E. HARGITTAI ET AL.

to life that has become a central experience of life” (2002, mining (Hunt & Newman 1997; Iselin 1993; Li & Zhong 17, italics in original). To him, it is not just a quantitative 2004; Snowball 1980). Our analysis of this literature leads trend of more media in more contexts, but a fundamental us to conclude that there are, in summary, four underlying and disturbing qualitative shift in the character of public structural conditions of overload (for similar reviews see culture. Klapp [1978] and Blumler [1980]): A 2010 article in the New York Times featured a fam- 1. Time sensitivity: A key element in the perception ily of technology users framed as if they were addicts, of “overload” is the limitation of time for reviewing unable to live without the constant flow of information available information. from cell phones and computers (Richtel 2010). The ac- 2. Decision requirement: Related to time sensitivity companying photo of the family sitting at the breakfast are the time constraints on actual decision making, table independently looking at their respective iPads takes especially critical decisions. the idea of disengaged communities and neighbors down 3. Structure of information: The “amount” of informa- to the most intimate of societal units: the family. Not tion may be less critical than the extent to which the only is the flow overwhelming, it is addictive and in- information is structured, permitting the observer to creasingly precludes more traditional forms of human in- retrieve what is judged to be relevant. teraction. Although these discursive reviews are highly 4. Quality of information: Many grievances about “in- visible and much discussed, they are anecdotal. So we formation overload” turn out actually to concern the turned to a more scientific literature addressing these is- quality of information or the information variant of sues in the fields of psychology, organizational communi- the engineering concept of signal-to-noise ratio. cation, marketing research, and management information systems. Reviewing each of these structural conditions and their In the scientific literature, dysfunctional information possible relevance to the typical media environment, we overload is a clearly identified problem, but is limited to conclude that most media exposure is in a context of re- specific structural conditions such as the need to make a laxation and repose, precisely the opposite of the high- critical decision in a short period of time (Maule 1998). A pressure, time-sensitive decision-making contexts of the central source for our look at the scientific literature is a scientific literature noted in the first two structural con- thoughtful review and informal meta-analysis of the over- ditions. Clearly, audience members may be influenced by load scholarship by two Swiss management professors and may learn from typical media content, but it is char- (Eppler & Mengis 2004). They searched journals’ titles acteristically casual and incidental, not typically a case of and abstracts for the keywords information overload, in- time-bound information retrieval (Comstock & Scharrer formation load, cognitive overload,andcognitive load, 1999). Research on the structuring of information in the which resulted in more than 500 retrieved articles. That third structural condition is characteristic of work in li- struck them as a bit unwieldy, so they filtered by more brary science and technical communication and focuses recent publication and several other criteria to reduce the on cataloging, indexing, labeling, and cross-referencing sample to just under 100. Then they proceeded to sum- (Case 2002), again not typically relevant to search and marize the findings in terms of causes, symptoms, and choice behavior in media exposure (Hartmann 2009). countermeasures for overload problems. The fourth structural condition may represent a more But what caught our attention was that only a handful complicated question of relevance to media behavior. Au- Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 of the studies dealt even marginally with typical media dience members routinely comment on the “quality” of consumption outside of the work environment. Iconic ex- content (Ang 1996; Gunter, Furnham & Lineton 1995; amples of information overload dynamics usually involve Radway 1991) (and that turned out to be the case in our a fighter pilot or perhaps a battlefield commander. Some- interviews as well). But quality in this context typically what less frequently, a surgeon in a high-tech operating refers straightforwardly to whether the audience mem- room or a bond trader in front of multiple screens might ber enjoyed the content—whether the comedy was funny be typified. Military and medical decisions are often mat- or the drama engaging. The term information quality in ters of life and death and are typically made under time the scientific literature has a much more specific meaning pressures often measured in seconds rather than hours or in the context of information retrieval—the relevance of days. So the emphasis on the actual amount of informa- the message received to the question asked—the signal- tion in the typical treatment of this concept may be a bit to-noise ratio. In the typical media-entertainment setting, misleading—the key issues are time constraint and time- few audience members approach the media with a specific constrained decision making. Many studies in this tradi- question in mind. But in this case, a cautionary note: As tion have focused on financial traders reviewing multiple online search increasingly replaces channel surfing and streams of time-critical financial information, medical di- magazine browsing, we may need to rethink these issues agnosis, accounting data systems, and commercial data in a rapidly changing media environment. PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD 163

In order to focus on potential information overload in ended than the typical survey study (Gamson 1992; Lunt and around the typical American home as opposed to & Livingstone 1996; Merton, Fiske, & Kendall 1990; professional or organizational contexts, we turned to the Stewart, Shamdasani, & Rook 2006). The informality literature on media effects and media exposure. We were of the interchange among participants, and between surprised to find an absence of systematic assessments of participants and the moderator, helps to reveal the nature information overload and/or the perception of information of people’s perceptions and interpretations. The sessions overload in the home, despite a very extensive literature are typically videotaped and transcribed (as was true in on patterns of reading and viewing (for an overview: Web- our case) to permit a careful review of the spontaneous ster & Phalen 1997). In the earliest media-effects studies language individuals use to describe their reactions and be- following the Second World War, researchers theorized a haviors. Rather than responding by selecting from among passive audience member propagandized by political and a limited set of questionnaire item options, the natural commercial messages, but found instead an active audi- language of the discussion permits the identification of ence that discussed and interpreted current events and with ambivalence or ambiguity or, at times, emphatic responses complex patterns of opinion leadership among friends and among participants. Focus-group research is particularly family (Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955; Levy & Windahl 1985; useful in identifying unanticipated responses to the subject Livingstone 2006). It is commonplace now in the com- matter at hand and in sharpening hypotheses for more sys- munication research literature to acknowledge that audi- tematic experimental and survey research down the road. ences actively construct meaning and interpret and filter Focus groups, however, are not designed to derive rep- complex media flows—a perspective sometimes identified resentative samples and project quantitative parameters to as the constructionist in media effects research (Gamson larger populations. Although the demographic characteris- 1988; Swanson 1981). Rather than overload, the literature tics of a participant may be indicated in the research report emphasizes the audience’s evolved skills in engaging a so- illustratively, the typically smaller focus-group samples phisticated mix of attention and inattention. The research are not appropriate for assessing differences in attitudes tradition has been championed notably by Doris Graber, or behaviors by demographic categories. Because of the whose classic work Processing the News: How People relatively public character of group participation, focus Tame the Information Tide (1988) inspires our own title. groups are not ideal for inquiring about socially sensitive Concerns about the quality of the public sphere and or potentially embarrassing domains of human activity. popular culture, of course, are not a recent development. So, for example, a study of the use of pornographic Web Gitlin acknowledges that people were condemning me- content or illegal online gambling might be better suited dia for causing information overload over a century ago, for one-on-one in-depth interviews. However, given our when sensationalistic yellow press articles distracted the interest in strategies for finding news, entertainment, and populace like modern tabloids, “not to mention the neon, gossip in public media and online social networks, the the flamboyant designs and banner headlines” of the late focus-group technique was particularly promising. 19th century (2002, 67). We suspect, however, that then, as now, the public itself might have a different view. To explore these questions, we conducted focus-group Data Collection interviews with Americans from across the country. In We conducted seven focus groups with 9 to 12 participants the next section, we explain our rationale for this method- each (77 participants total) over a period of three days in Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 ology, describe how we conducted the sessions, and give October 2009, at CBS Television City, a state-of-the-art some details about our participants. Then we proceed with focus-group research facility in Las Vegas. The location describing the themes that emerged from the conversa- was chosen because of its ability to draw together a diverse tions, including frustrations with sensationalist television, group of participants from across the country. Individuals enthusiasm about online social networking, and an interest with little or no experience online were excluded. The core in being informed about different sides of an issue. We questions we posed to focus group participants were: also discuss how people’s Internet skills may influence (a) How do you keep up with what’s going on in the the way people perceive the information environment. world? We conclude by reflecting on why it may be that people (b) How do you feel about the amount of information are not overwhelmed by the new media environment and out there? what research in this domain should focus on in the future. The sessions started with each participant filling out a short questionnaire that asked about the person’s basic de- DATA AND METHODS mographic information, as well as some systematic infor- For this preliminary research we chose to rely on the mation about people’s Internet uses and skills, news me- focus-group method, which is more flexible and open- dia consumption, and political knowledge. We began the 164 E. HARGITTAI ET AL.

focus groups with the moderator asking everyone present The sessions lasted 58 minutes on average, yield- to comment on how they keep up with what is going on ing transcriptions totaling just under 90,000 words. We in the world and what their strategy is for dealing with the grouped the participants’ responses into clusters by com- information. The moderator collected answers from each mon themes, and identified the most representative quotes respondent in a round robin for the first question, before from each cluster. We then tabulated responses to the letting the conversation flow from group interactions. questionnaire to find each participant’s relative Internet We tried to get both practical information, such as what skill, Internet accessibility, interest in political matters, resources people use for news consumption, and emotional and knowledge of current events items. We use this infor- information, such as how people feel about the plethora of mation to give some general background about the people choice available to them, out of participants in all groups. in the study and to offer some context about people whom We guided the discussions by asking questions based on we quote. participants’ responses or asking the same question of various individuals. Occasionally, we jumpstarted a new topic The Participants by doing another round robin in which every participant answered a question. Often, the moderator would pose a We had about equal representation of women and men. question to the group at large and wait for any participant Ages ranged from people in their twenties to over 60 to respond, such as, “Are you guys much smarter than years old, with the majority under 40. The group was you used to be because of all this information coming to relatively well educated, with almost half possessing a you?” college degree and close to a fifth with a postgraduate As is often the case with focus groups, the interactions degree, in contrast to just over one-quarter who had some among participants were often a factor in how conver- college experience but no degree and just a handful of sations progressed. Occasionally, one participant would people with only a high school degree. The participants ask a question directly to another participant instead of came from across the United States with almost one-third waiting for the moderator to bring up a topic, which in- coming from the Northeast, a similar number from the dicated strong and genuine interest in that issue. Some- South, just under one-quarter from the Midwest, and the times participants would express agreement about certain rest from the West. Almost half of the participants lived in topics, such as the annoyances of online social media suburban areas and many others in urban areas, with just or the sensationalism of TV news, and they would nod over 10 percent from rural areas. their heads, join in laughter, or indicate agreement in a Most of the participants had regular access to the Inter- verbal way. At other times, participants would disagree net at home, many had access at work, and the majority with each other and spark a debate. The conversational also had access at a friend or family member’s home. Ad- nature of these focus groups meant that the themes that ditionally, just over half had Internet on a mobile device emerged from the topics discussed most heavily were a such as a smart phone. As a point of comparison, research result of the participants’ interest in a subject and commu- from the Pew Internet & American Life Project has found nication with one another, not of the forced direction of the (Smith 2010) that 40% of all Americans use the Internet, moderator. e-mail, or instant messaging on their phones, and 47% Not surprisingly, events that were occurring at the time have wireless Internet connections on their laptops, sug- of our interviews influenced the conversations. The study gesting that focus-group participants were slightly more Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 took place just as the Balloon Boy hoax had been revealed wired than the average American. Our research subjects in mid-October 2009. A young boy from Colorado had were recruited in a retail corridor connected to the MGM been thought to be floating dangerously in a homemade Grand Hotel and were offered financial compensation for air balloon made by his father, when really he had been participation in a one-hour interview, the common practice hiding safely in his attic while the media and the police in commercial focus-group research. There may well be a overreacted to the faux drama, with his parents supposedly personality profile that uniquely characterizes those who angling for their own reality TV show. Another topic still are drawn to Las Vegas, but the geographic and socioeco- on people’s minds was Michael Jackson’s sudden death nomic profiles of these travelers are impressively diverse. on June 25, 2009. Both of these incidents were intensely The type of media participants reported using most covered by the national media. Other topics in the news each day was TV, closely followed by visiting Web sites. at the time included worries about the economy during Except for one participant who only uses e-mail, all others the recovery from a recession, the continuing wars in Iraq usually use the Web daily, with many averaging nearly and Afghanistan, debates about national health care plans, three hours a day. All of our participants reported using protests in Iran following its contentious elections, and e-mail or instant messaging on most days. In contrast, the H1N1 virus, which was still spreading “swine flu” participants reported lower levels of turning to newspapers fears. and magazines. PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD 165

RESULTS as often as possible.” There were four people in the remaining group who expressed sentiments about feeling Although there were members of each focus group who overwhelmed by the media. Two female college students mentioned some unease with aspects of the new media noted that their overload came from not knowing which environment and a few even felt overwhelmed, the overall sources of information are accurate—the first said she felt tone of the discussions was largely positive and enthusi- “overwhelmed” and, after hearing about research on the astic. Instead of feeling burdened by choice, many partici- limitless amounts of information entering the American pants enjoyed the freedom it brought, especially the range home today, went on to explain her sentiments as of information available online. Respondents of all age follows: ranges used a wide variety of technologies, and many of them owned smart phones and relished the accompanying “[I am] not really sure where to turn for the most accurate mobility. The identifiably negative responses to the new information. But I guess I have more of a negative association media environment took three forms: (1) frustration with with it because I tend to more shut down and not really know the sensationalistic and partisan pronouncements increas- where to turn, so I don’t really turn anywhere.” ingly found on some cable news channels; (2) annoyance The other student, this one from the urban South, ex- at the distracting trivialities associated with social network plained her feelings this way: “I do find it overwhelming. sites such as Twitter and Facebook; and (3) a general sense I don’t like it. When I try to find something or research that with the diversity of professional and nonprofessional something, I never know what is the accurate informa- voices online, it is hard to know whom to trust. Next, tion, like she said,” referencing the other student. When we first present the relatively few instances of people re- the moderator asked her to put this sense of being over- porting information overload and then discuss the more whelmed into emotional terms, she replied: “It’s frustrat- representative sentiments and attitudes that emerged from ing.” This participant also made one of the only allusions our conversations. The latter includes people’s emotional to technology addiction. She said of her husband, half- responses to sensationalistic TV news and content spread jokingly and half-seriously: on social network sites, their thoughts about the Internet “When you lack the social aspect of actually being able as a news source in general and biased news reporting in to talk to your spouse [glares at her husband and then smiles] particular, and how they think about search engines. face-to-face, it’s just ridiculous I think. [...] That’s just the one aspect of technology that I just really don’t like.” “Overwhelmed and Under-Informed”-A Rare Her husband, another student in his twenties who also Sentiment worked in software testing, was an avid gadget user, and he admitted to his “lazy” habit of sometimes texting his A public affairs analyst in her fifties from the suburban wife in the living room from his bedroom. This admission West expressed the kind of sentiments Gitlin would find prompted outrage from some of the other young women unsurprising: in the group, and one woman’s comical declaration that “There are way too many sources. I feel sometimes just “I would throw the cell phone at his head, that’s what stressed out like Robin Williams in the movie Moscow on the I would do. Sorry.” However, except for this particular Hudson. He has to go pick up a can of coffee at the supermar- case, technology addiction was barely discussed in the ket and he hyperventilates because there are so many choices. focus groups. Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 That’s how I feel with all these sources of information.” The already-discussed 11 people—a distinct minority Another participant in this group, a woman in her forties —from among 77 participants were the only ones who, with a post-graduate degree who works in safety and envi- in any explicit way, communicated feeling overwhelmed ronmental compliance in the suburban Midwest, nodded by the volume of information available in the new media when asked whether she felt overwhelmed. environment, even though we probed this question repeat- Three people from another group specifically stated edly in all groups. Others tended to express nothing less that they felt “overwhelmed.” A preschool teacher in than delight when discussing the ways in which they used his thirties from the urban Northeast used the word media to find information, and many more simply seemed “overload,” a term that has appeared in many of the neutral on the subject or had mixed feelings that balanced articles criticizing the new media environment (e.g., out in the end. Many participants acknowledged the high Berghel 1997; Gitlin 2002). This participant also refer- volume of information, but did not find it problematic. A enced the phrase “too much stimulus.” A field project banker in his twenties from the urban South was unsur- coordinator in his fifties from the suburban South felt prised by the enormous volume of information dissemi- “overwhelmed and amazed that there’s that much out nated in the current media environment, and said, “I think there, and kind of feeling, you know, under-informed.” there’s media everywhere, and you can’t really get away He dealt with these feelings by trying “to avoid news from it.” However, instead of finding this overwhelming, 166 E. HARGITTAI ET AL.

he replied: “No, I think it’s good. I think it exposes people of not being over-stimulated.” A senior software architect to different ideas and attitudes.” A counselor in his thirties in his twenties from the suburban West, when presented from the urban South said: “There’s so much information, with an example of the enormous amount of current media it’s very helpful at times. You just have to decipher what is choice, said: “I had mixed feelings but mostly good. Not a good source and what’s not, and I think once you get that overwhelmed at all.” down, it’s fine.” A woman in her thirties from the subur- Most participants did not feel generally overwhelmed ban South who worked as an information technology (IT) by information and stimuli in the way the experts have department database manager, said: “I love it. You know, speculated. For example, in one instance where we asked I have the Internet on my phone. I have Internet at the the group at large if they felt overwhelmed, many people house, at work. We have satellite television. I love being nodded. But minutes later, most of the participants were able to access any information whenever I want.” enthusiastically discussing media choice. It seemed that This woman was not the only one to gather satisfaction a few specific facets of the new media environment irri- from the mobility of her Internet access. Many participants tated the participants, but these targeted frustrations were owned smart phones, and they all seemed to enjoy the accompanied by enthusiasm and excitement on a more control their smart phones provided them. Mobility was general level. clearly an important factor in many people’s information- seeking behavior. The IT department database manager just quoted, who is also in school, mentioned: TV News Sensationalism: “The Fluff That’s Coming “It’s good for me, because I don’t have to carry a big In” ... laptop around to do [ ] an assignment that was due last Although television news has been a staple of the Amer- night. I was able to go online and meet with people in my class and able to get my homework done while I’m away.” ican information diet since at least the 1950s (Comstock & Scharrer 1999), and cable television has been around Besides the usefulness of constant access to others, re- for several decades, the television news environment of spondents reported often using smart phones for infor- the 21st century is nonetheless unique. Twenty-four-hour mation seeking. A payroll manager in her forties from news channels like CNN and MSNBC coupled with any- the urban Northeast received e-mail news updates on her time, anywhere online coverage make it possible to fol- BlackBerry. An insurance agent in her forties from the low the news constantly in ways not available in earlier urban Midwest checked the Weather Channel for updates times. Perhaps the biggest criticism from respondents con- on her iPhone. A self-described news junkie in his thirties cerned the level of sensationalism in which especially working in sales in the urban South also reported using TV stations engage, presumably as a strategy to compete his smart phone for news: commercially (HendriksVettehen, Nuijten, & Beentjes “You can pull [the news] up whenever you’re ready, and 2007). you can look at it. So if you miss it at the hour block that it Many focus-group participants commented on this by comes on, you can always go back, you know, any time, and specifically mentioning the cases of the Balloon Boy hoax pull it. So, I mean, for me, I love it. [pause] On the go.” and Michael Jackson’s death as inflamed instances of sen- The ability to choose where and when to get one’s news sational reporting, criticizing news channels for the ex- seemed enticing to most participants, and certainly seemed cessive amounts of time they devoted to these topics. Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 like one of the aspects of the new media environment that In one group, the following conversation—spurred by a elicited the most positive responses. None of the partici- discussion of the 24-hour news cycle—highlighted the pants who already owned a smart phone reported disliking widespread exasperation with these types of stories: the ability to use the Internet at their leisure. Male 1: Michael Jackson’s death. However, other aspects of the new media environment elicited more complex reactions. An office manager in her [collective groans and noises of exasperation from the thirties from the suburban South whose husband was the others] aforementioned avid news consumer and technology user Male 2: That was on every channel. said that she was “wild about the advancement of me- Moderator: You guys have got to give me the more recent dia.” Later, she mentioned some concerns about guarding one that’s come up. her children against the darker side of the Internet and TV, however. Others, too, had mixed reactions that were Male 1 and Female 1 [simultaneously]: Balloon Boy! generally positive, but not uniformly so. A man in his Indeed, these particular examples of media sensational- sixties who worked in resort property management in the ism were ridiculed in nearly every focus group, prompting rural Northeast said he was “excited at the opportunity, one man in his thirties from the suburban Midwest to de- and overwhelmed by the magnitude, and guarded in terms clare that Balloon Boy was “a shining example of what’s PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD 167

wrong with today’s media.” The participant in her forties “But then there’s the point—why do you need twenty- working in safety and environmental compliance quoted four hours of news? And, at some point, how far is too far earlier summed up her frustration with news quality versus to cover a story? When you’ve finished covering a story and quantity as follows: now you’re just speculating, why are you still on that story? Can’t you just go to another one? It doesn’t need to be on for “I would argue that we’re not necessarily more informed. twenty-four hours.” [...] How many people saw the boy in the spaceship versus what’s going on in wars and the bigger issues? How much The same woman felt that the sensationalism present in time is spent on things that are interesting but not necessarily one channel tended to be contagious: “Because it leaks [pause] relevant?” onto other channels. You can’t get away from it if you wanted to.” An entrepreneur in his forties from the subur- As she spoke, the other participants in the group reacted ban Midwest elicited laughter when he noted: with agreement. There was knowing laughter when she mentioned Balloon Boy, as if they had all suffered the “One of the things that I think we’ve lost with [...] the 24 same annoyance from their TV screens, and several people hour news cycle was the notion that it [takes] a day to digest said things like “right” or repeated her words as she said news [...] How many times have you tuned into headline them to indicate their agreement. news and they say ‘we’re showing you pictures and we don’t Another woman in her thirties from the urban Midwest know what’s going on yet.”’ working in advertising design expressed a nearly identical viewpoint, saying: Online News “I think that there’s way too much entertainment news compared to real news, world news. I think that the kid in In comparison with TV news, the online news environment the balloon wasn’t really impacting [anything]. How many seemed to generate almost uniformly positive responses. things are we not knowing or hearing about because of fluff A physician in his thirties from the urban South thinks we that’s coming in?” are better informed in the Internet age: Frustration with the domination of trivialities and sen- “Nowadays you can jump on the Internet read in German, sationalism in the new media environment was more you know, French or whatever else you want. So you’re widespread than any feeling of being overwhelmed with definitely better informed with an extra sort of different point the amount of information itself. A banking manager in of view from that side. And also I would say faster informed, his fifties from the urban South specifically stated that he you know, something happens in Southeast Asia you find out was not overwhelmed by the Internet’s range of choices, about [it] right away.” but followed up by declaring, “What’s overwhelming is A woman in her forties working in customer service in the the sensationalism ...that’s what’s overwhelming. If any- suburban South agreed, saying, “There’s certainly more thing that comes out of all of this, it’s how the media tools and information out there available for everyone sensationalizes everything which affects us on our daily to have easier access to.” Another woman in her thir- day.” ties working in customer service in the suburban Midwest Media critics have pointed toward the 24-hour cycle mentioned the Internet’s ability to deliver international of cable TV news as a reason for the sensationalism—as news: the number of channels grows, competition increases, and “[I’m] better informed especially on international issues. Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 channels sensationalize their news to draw in more view- I mean we have BBC and BBC News that sometimes comes ers (Grabe, Zhou, & Barnett 2001; HendriksVettehen et al. on our cable that I’ll watch occasionally, but for the most 2007). This view was reiterated by the focus-group partic- part it’s like an hour and that’s it. You don’t get anything ipants. An engineer in his fifties from the urban Northeast else. On the Internet, if you want to know something that’s was wary of getting news on the Internet, but still liked happening anywhere in the world [...] you can research that that better than TV news, remarking: on the Internet and find arguments for and against different things.” “I think television news is specifically the worst informed because it’s all sensational. It’s all about [...] getting the To this, another woman, in her forties working in customer article or the news story that either meets their editorial needs service responded as follows: or is going to be the one that is flashier that they think is “I think since the Internet revolution, I think everyone that going to get you to watch that. I think TV news has gone way has access to this and utilizes the Internet is better informed. downhill since this whole thing has happened.” There’s certainly more tools and information out there avail- “This whole thing” was a reference to the new media able for everyone to have easier access to. Whereas before environment itself. A microbiologist in her twenties from the Internet revolution you were more closed, the opportuni- the suburban Northeast referred to the problem of 24-hour ties for that information were [...] nowhere near [as] readily news in the following commentary: available. If you really wanted to make the effort to go and 168 E. HARGITTAI ET AL.

find this information, it was a trip to the library, it was a and textual streams online require audience members to periodical, it was a card catalog, microfiche. You know, you “pull” what they want, rather than simply sit back and really had to put in, you had to be committed to put that allow the media professionals to decide what is important effort in to [...] finding out all that information. Whereas and “push” the headlines out to passive audience recipi- with the Internet, it’s just a matter of wherever your laptop ents. Pulling involves occasional errors, and takes effort or desktop is set up in your house. It’s just a matter of, you and some evolved skill at manipulating the digital en- know, walking a few feet and typing a few keystrokes.” vironment. All but a few of our participants, it appears, A few respondents referenced blogs as a useful way to were motivated to invest a bit of effort and get over the gather more news about current events. The same woman skill “hump” to locate and manipulate routinely the infor- who talked earlier about international coverage said she mation they wanted and needed with some success. It is reads the Daily Kos for news, and thinks that news re- likely that the nature of our methodology and sampling porters online have fewer ulterior motives than their politi- underrepresent those who are financially or experientially cized TV counterparts: “They are most likely journalists marginalized from the digital domain. As a result, although by nature ...that write on the Internet or communications we are not equipped from this study to estimate the size people that just present the facts.” This participant high- of the strata still marginalized by limited skills or limited lighted another trend of the focus groups—while many technical access to online resources, it remains an impor- people were wary of the accuracy of online content, most tant issue for analysis and public policy (see, e.g., Hargittai people thought the Web was less purposefully biased than 2010). TV news. A print shop supervisor in his twenties from the suburban Northeast responded to the question of where he would go to find out what is going on by saying, “I Social Media: “I Let It Wash Over Me” have the Internet on here, too, [points to his smart phone] While most of the respondents seemed positive toward but there’s so much on there, I wouldn’t know how to or at least accepting of the Internet as a good source of file it down to one thing.” An engineer in his fifties from information, a much larger portion of participants dis- the urban Northeast said of the Internet, “Well, I think that liked social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, the Internet is amazing. But there’s nothing to stop anyone sometimes vehemently. Once again, participants were not from putting anything up.” An accountant in his thirties put off by the amount of information on the Web, but from the suburban Northeast was similarly wary of online rather by the quality of what they saw—in this case, content accuracy, saying: the annoying minutia of people reporting details about “So everyone’s a blogger now and then one blogger is their personal lives. Interestingly, however, these com- quoting another blogger. He got his source from another ments often reflected assumptions about how certain ser- blogger and it’s just, you don’t know who to believe.” vices work, rather than people’s personal experiences with An employment agency manager in his thirties from the them. suburban Northeast noted: While several participants reported liking Facebook, few had tolerance for Twitter. One woman in her twenties “The Internet’s wonderful at getting you news very fast. working in systems support in the rural South said of the But there’s no one answering for it. They’re updating the latter: “It’s awful! It’s awful. It’s like, I don’t care. Like article and making corrections all the time. You’re getting five minutes I’m going to work now, oh I’ve been to work Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 it quicker but you’re not getting a professional necessarily now. Oh, I’m getting out of my car now. I’m walking in writing it out.” the office door. Oh my God!” To her, Twitter was a service For all the doubts about the accuracy of online news, that allowed self-absorbed people to chronicle the details however, many participants still preferred it over TV news. of their lives at the expense of others. A software architect A cocktail server in her twenties from the urban Midwest in his twenties said that online social networking seemed was an avid reader of political blogs and mentioned that “really immature” to him, and another participant agreed there were different “levels” of bloggers in terms of accu- with him emphatically—“It is!” A student in his twenties racy. She noted: “It’s all about filtering out what’s a little from the urban South shed light on why Twitter is irri- bit more reputable and what isn’t. Even with blogging tating: “Yeah, I can’t stand it. It’s annoying. It’s basically you’re going to have stuff that you trust more than others.” a Facebook status update, and that’s it.” Perhaps more By filtering and varying the Internet news she reads, she than any other topic in the focus groups, social network gathered a reliable body of knowledge. sites caused the most raised voices as participants were The rationale for participants’ relative enthusiasm about bolstered by others’ emotional reactions. the Internet as a resource for news in comparison with tra- An executive director of a nonprofit organization in ditional media appears to be the issue of personal control. her twenties discussing Twitter complained: “It’s just a A diversity of sources and a cacophony of video, audio, centralized source for people to annoy you with their PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD 169

minute-by-minute activities.” From examples like “I don’t you see what your friends are reading or thought was in- want to hear them feeding their baby an apple,” to “Hey, I teresting enough to post.” In a clear echo of the celebrated just had a hot dog, and it was bad!,” the participants reiter- two-step (and multistep) flow of mediated information, ated again and again the idea that they were not interested the executive director of a nonprofit in her twenties said: in hearing irrelevant details of people’s lives on social “I have friends who attach newspaper articles to their network sites. The idea of these services as an outlet for news feed on Facebook and things like that. Things that are narcissism was also central to participants’ impressions of going on that they somehow came across that they thought Facebook and Twitter. As an employment agency manager were important.” from the suburban Northeast in his thirties said, “It’s like Overall, several participants (22 out of 77) seemed to having an audience, I guess, to some people, and maybe have considerably negative feelings about social network you feel you’re so important that you want to share these sites, while fewer (9 out of 77) expressed strong positive things, but nobody cares.” These comments suggest that feelings about them. Most of the participants were neutral many participants had a limited understanding of Twitter or had mixed feelings. Thus, the general sentiment among insofar as they only saw the service as an outlet for peo- the respondents was that the Internet is a good source for ple’s mundane daily actions, rather than recognizing its gathering information about what is going on, but there is potential to spread information through pointers to inter- a distaste for activities on social network sites, suggesting esting sites and stories. that many people are annoyed by what they perceive as the Others did not seem to understand the full potential of minutia of people’s lives fed to them through Facebook Twitter either, associating it with celebrities illustrated in and Twitter. the following conversation: Male 3: You got your celebrity stalkers. They follow these people. They put the minutia there, and everybody’s follow- A Persisting Digital Divide in Access and Skill ing what they’re doing. Of the participants who did not like to use the Internet Male 4: I’m gonna go out to eat tonight, at this place. as a news source, some were flummoxed by the technol- [makes a noise of mock celebration] ogy and did not possess the tools or education to use the [laughter] Internet effectively, even while appreciating that it was a Male 4: [yelling] Oh, sweet! positive source of news for others. When asked on a short questionnaire to rank their familiarity, on a 1–5 scale, with [more laughter] such terms as “blogs,” “RSS,” and “tagging,” almost one- The stream of unwanted information that online social third (32%) of the participants gave themselves the lowest networking facilitates did seem to be an aspect of the new score on all of the items. In comparison, about one-quarter media environment that was, in fact, overwhelming. An (23%) gave themselves the highest ranking for these terms, entrepreneur from the suburban Midwest in his forties suggesting that while some people have very limited un- said: “Twitter was sort of for me the first example of once derstanding of recent Web developments, others feel very you get past, you know, following half a dozen people, it’s much at home with them. impossible to keep up with it [...] I’ve kind of got to the A bartender in her twenties from the suburban Midwest point where I let it wash over me.” said: “I went on Twitter and signed up for an account, Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 At the same time, several participants who use Face- and I didn’t know what to do. Like, it’s confusing to me, book or Twitter did like the opportunities such sites pro- really, and it’s weird.” Predictably, when asked to rank her vide, and they often were people who used the sites in knowledge of Internet terms, she gave mostly answers of more ways than simply keeping up with friends. Some 1, the lowest skill ranking out of a possible 5. In her case of them mentioned getting news through social network as well, her frustration with Twitter was likely a factor of sites. A woman in her fifties liked Twitter as a tool for her self-professed confusion rather than a critical dislike following missionaries or human rights activists instead of the service itself. Web-use skill, more than age or any of celebrities. A man in sales from the suburban Midwest other noticeable factor, seemed most important to whether in his twenties used Twitter to follow news sites instead of or not people expressed feelings of being overwhelmed. friends. A woman in banking in her twenties from the sub- The bartender was in her twenties, while the woman from urban Midwest highlighted how Facebook could be used the rural Northeast was in her fifties, but both expressed in a multifaceted way by saying, “Yeah, I keep in touch frustration because of a lack of skill. There is a stereotype with family and friends that way, but you can also link to that young Americans are highly skillful online whereas various news sites, political organizations and they’ll keep older users know little about the Web. In our group of you up-to-date on a lot of information as well.” One partic- participants the salience of skill-related issues was not ipant noted that “if you’re just sort of browsing Facebook related to age in any apparent way. 170 E. HARGITTAI ET AL.

Some participants who live in rural parts of the United tried-and-true search engines like Google. A sales man- States confront limited Internet access and report feeling ager from the urban Northeast in her twenties said, “I’d left out. A middle-aged couple from rural Maine was dis- rather use Google [than Bing] even though it gives me appointed by the lack of Internet access in their area. The an overload of information. I just trust Google. I’m more husband said: comfortable with Google than trying something else.” A director of learning technologies in her twenties from the “Unfortunately, we live in rural Maine, and there’s very little high-speed Internet, so [...] the crawling Web browser, urban Northeast was generally happy with her search re- [..] you have to have an awful lot of patience to wait, so sults. When asked “how are you feeling about the results actually we don’t do it very much at home.” you get from search engines,” she responded: “You can find basically whatever you want when you want it.” The husband, who mentioned that he works with the Internet often at work, ranked his Internet skills high. The wife, who was retired and spent more time at home with- Fragmentation, Polarization, and Yellers out broadband Internet access, ranked all of her Internet A prominent concern in the new media literature is a worry skills as 1—the lowest category, representing “no under- that increased media choice will lead to increased audi- standing” of things like RSS, tabbed browsing, and blogs. ence polarization and fragmentation, that is, that people This discrepancy in their online skills suggests that lack of will seek out news that agrees with them or pick entertain- convenient broadband access at home can pose a serious ment over news, because they can customize their media barrier to Internet skills and corresponding usage. intake more easily than before. One particularly insight- A woman in her fifties who was from the rural Northeast ful comment from a woman in her twenties working in summed up her frustration about access by saying: systems support in the rural South reflected the academic “I think the thing is about availability and education concern about fragmentation. She said: of how to access. I think that that’s where I become over- “I think TV news is terrible, which is why I use the whelmed and that’s why I become overwhelmed, is because Internet, but I don’t think that people are better informed I don’t want to have to read the directions. I want somebody about general issues. [...] Now that there’s Internet you can to show me.” still find out something if you want to find out something, but it comes down to if the person cared before there was Internet, they’re going to care the same amount now that there Search Engines: “I Just Trust Google” is Internet about finding out what they want to know. And Search engines were connected in participants’ minds to making it easier maybe they’ll know a few more things, but commercial interests, and thus were less trusted, though they’re still going to search Angelina Jolie, Khloe Kardashian widely used, features of the Internet. A woman in her and you know like Bubble Boy or Balloon Boy.” forties working in customer service in the suburban South When we asked participants explicitly whether they noted: “But those search engines, [...] the first things that preferred news sources that agreed with them, most people come up are the people that paid them the most to get said no. In fact, bias in news coverage was more often them up there at the top.” Similarly, a human resources than not a source of complaint. A college student in her manager in his forties from the suburban West critiqued: twenties said she preferred to hear “from all sides,” and a “I think if you see the top featured stuff, you know they’re nurse in her thirties described how she had switched from Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 paying for that.” Another concern participants had with formerly watching only Fox news to CNN because CNN search engines was that results were based more on what “talks both sides.” A wildlife biologist in his forties who one participant called “popularity” than on relevance or had indicated on the questionnaire that he is somewhat authority. A bartender in her twenties from the suburban interested in politics described his strategy for getting all Midwest complained, “I wish that if I Googled something, sides of an issue: it was from a professional, not from some Joe Blow on the “I do watch MSNBC and I do watch Fox on health care, street.” just to see both sides, and then I try to listen to Rush, but Still, most participants seemed satisfied with their that’s tough, it’s a struggle. [some laughter] But I do try to do search results, and trusted their preferred search engine it, just to see his spin on it. And then I also follow with some to give them the results they were looking for. A director local talk shows, you know, sometimes they interview con- of a nonprofit in her twenties from the urban northeast gressmen and stuff on the subject, so I’m just trying to gather said: “I trust Google to do a basic search. And then it be- as I can either from the radio interviews or congressional comes my responsibility from there to say: Is this enough? polls, and two different channels.” Do I then want to go further?” Although some participants A college student in his twenties who suggested that had expressed concern with the motives of search engines’ he was somewhat interested in national news said he tries top results, they still felt comfortable overall with using to consume a variety of views, and that he thinks “the PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD 171

various views would be positive,” indicating that he is not a “pull” dynamic characterized by an online search. Be- an example of the kind of one-source or one-view citizen tween push and pull is an intermediate form of interaction critics fear. A woman in her twenties with a postgraduate characterized by recommendation engines, collaborative degree summed up the general dislike of bias by saying, filtering, short messages on current events, and e-mail at- tachments from the mainstream media, which could be “You can’t fully understand even the side you think you would stand on without knowing the alternative argument. characterized as the electronic equivalent of the classic So in order to be able to fully understand the issue, I think two-step flow. you have to know what the argument is.” Where once Americans might have gossiped over the back fence or while sitting around the cracker barrel at A woman in her fifties, however, did say that she tended the general store, online gossip and commentary through toward stations that agree with her, and a banker in his social network sites are now all the craze. Twitter and twenties also said that he would not watch news that was Facebook get mixed reviews, with over-sharing by some clearly biased against his opinions, though he was open as a subject of particular scorn and humor. Online social to discussing issues with anyone in person. Overall, the networking is relatively new and, as is often the case in responses of participants clash with the academic notion social diffusion, it may be some time before the norms that people will abandon consulting opposing views in of appropriate use and skills at filtering start to stabilize. favor of news that lines up with their own views. Currently, those who are technically savvy report setting Regarding pundits, a number of participants mentioned up their media usage in a way that represents their prefer- their distaste for opinionated newscasters whom one man ences, while those less savvy simply tune out completely. called “yellers.” A man in his forties complained that he On the issues of fragmentation and polarization, our dis- almost stopped watching cable news because of that type cussions did not reveal evidence of individuals retreating of bias, and a public affairs analyst in her fifties said that into a partisan silo or “daily me” of one-sided information. she wanted to hear all sides of an issue for her job: On the contrary, reinforcing recent survey and experimen- “But when you can’t hear because they’re just yelling tal research (Garrett 2009), our participants indicated an or berating you it’s like I don’t even want to, I don’t even interest in understanding more about how “the other side” want to play it so I just turn it off. And then I’ll go back to felt and the logic of their arguments. a less invasive medium and try to read these opinions in a Our reliance on the focus-group technique means that newspaper so that I don’t have to, you know, suffer that.” we were not able to observe new media behavior in nat- Once again, the culture of a medium like cable news or uralistic settings and did not have the benefit of extended talk radio was the aggravator in this scenario, rather than one-on-one interviews that might have revealed more sub- the issue of gathering multiple viewpoints, in which most tle shades of frustration, anxiety, or reluctance in con- people expressed interest. fronting the new media deluge. We relied instead on what people said in spontaneous conversation in a public setting, which has been shown to result in surprising candor, CONCLUSION and frequent and well-articulated differences of opinion. Findings from our focus-group interviews suggest that The casual use of the concept “information overload” Americans are getting their news from an increasingly di- for consumers of traditional mass media and the increas- verse set of sources and are actually quite pleased about it. ingly prevalent digital media may be misleading and Downloaded by [University of Michigan] at 05:58 14 May 2012 They complain from time to time about too much fluff and would benefit from some conceptual clarification. We sensationalism, but that may not be a recent development. identify four structural conditions that are associated with The Internet is seen as a helpful source of information the overload phenomenon (see earlier list). Further re- about current events, while television news, particularly search could usefully probe how frequently each is actu- cable news, attracts more criticism because of sensation- ally in evidence for a typical media consumer and how alism and the constant stream of repetitive stories. Only individuals react and adapt to those conditions. Also, fur- a scattered few participants expressed a sense of being ther survey research with projectable samples could clarify overwhelmed by the volume of information or the type of more precisely the distribution of responses to an envi- media they encountered. ronment of increasingly abundant information,which we Communications scholarship has been struggling with could only approximate from limited focus groups. a definition of and an analytic approach to studying the Our participants, for the record, expressed near- concept of interactivity (Bucy 2004; Neuman 2008). It ap- unanimous enthusiasm about the new media environment. pears that we are witnessing a fundamental shift in the in- Those in rural areas with only dial-up access were looking terface between the media environment and the individual forward to getting hooked up to broadband and getting audience member, moving from the characteristic “push” more reliable cell phone service. When frustration is men- of a fixed broadcast schedule and daily news headlines to tioned, it typically takes two forms: (1) Individuals have 172 E. HARGITTAI ET AL.

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