Reimagining information overload

Abstract

Consistent with the conference theme of “Understanding the Past and Building the Future,” the COVID-19 pandemic offers a lens for reimagining the discipline’s conceptual understanding of information overload. Usually framed as a psychological, cognitive, or emotional phenomenon, research emphasizes individual coping strategies, information seeking, decision-making, and productivity (Bawden and Robinson 2009, 183-5; Eppler and Mengis 2004, 330-4; Savolainen 2007, 614-5). However, greater attention could be given to the social and relational aspects of information overload. Emerging research is starting to address these effects specific to undergraduates’ experience of overload throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Cao et al. 2020, 3; Chang et al. 2020, 2-3; Händel et al. 2020, 8; Lui et al. 2021, 2-5). Using results from a recent survey of undergraduates at Western University, the proposed lightning talk will present potential directions for exploring the social and relational elements of pandemic-related overload.