infobesity

English

WOTD – 28 September 2021

Etymology

Blend of info or information +‎ obesity.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnfə(ʊ)ˈbiːsɪti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnfoʊˈbisɪti/, [-ɾi]
• Hyphenation: in‧fo‧bes‧i‧ty

Noun

infobesity (uncountable)

1. (informal) Synonym of information overload (“the availability or supply of too much information, or a state of stress which results from it”)

   Synonyms: infoglut, infoxication

   • 2007, Library + Information Update, volume 6, London: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 28, column 4:

     [H]ow information professionals can embrace new social networking technologies, and the move from information to knowledge and meaning, as well as the idea of ‘infobesity’.

   • 2008 January 15, Anthony Lilley, “Who Controls the Stories?”, in Yumpu‎^[1], Diepoldsau, St. Gallen, Switzerland, archived from the original on 27 September 2021:

     We live in an age of infobesity. Information overload. Too much choice. You can't stop it – as even the Chinese are finding – by building virtual walls any more.

     A speech given in the author’s capacity as News International Visiting Professor for Broadcast at the University of Oxford: see John Kelly (2009) “Where Next? A Few Predictions”, in Colin Bundy [et al.], editors, Red Kayaks and Hidden Gold: The Rise, Challenges and Value of Citizen Journalism (RISJ Challenges)‎^[2], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, →ISBN, archived from the original on 13 June 2021, footnote 102, page 46.

   • 2009, Kay Withers, First Class?: Challenges and Opportunities for the UK’s University Sector, London: Institute for Public Policy Research, →ISBN, page 96:

     As [Anthony] Lilley (2008) has suggested, we are living in an age of ‘infobesity’.

   • 2010, Kevin Duncan, quoting John Naish, “Affluenza, Herds and Quirkology: Mysterious Consumer Behaviour”, in Marketing Greatest Hits: A Masterclass in Modern Marketing Ideas, London: A & C Black Publishers, →ISBN, page 84:

     On the data and information front, he believes we are suffering from infobesity. Too much information causes stress and confusion and makes us do irrational things.

   • 2010, Alain Fayolle, Handbook of Research in Entrepreneurship Education: Volume 3: International Perspectives, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 98:

     This module introduces students to the principles of dematerialization, to the need for perpetual mutation, adaptation and to co-evolution phenomena; to the phenomenon of infobesity, and so on.

   • 2011, Florence Devouard, “Collective Intelligence and Business Enterprise 2.0”, in Moira Cockell, Jérôme Billotte, Frédéric Darbellay, Francis Waldvogel, editors, Common Knowledge: The Challenge of Transdisciplinarity, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland: EPFL Press, →ISBN, page 36:

     Internet users have access to huge amounts of information. Confronted with infobesity, their attention is rare and volatile.

   • 2021, Prasanna Karhade, Abhishek Kathuria, Ojaswi Malik, Benn Konsynski, “Digital Platforms and Infobesity: A Research Agenda”, in Aravinda Garimella et al., editors, The Role of e-Business during the Time of Grand Challenges: 19th Workshop on e-Business, WeB 2020 Virtual Event, December 12, 2020 (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; 418), Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 71:

     As digital platforms continue to grow, it also gives rise to infobesity and the problem of plenty which can undermine the platforms' performance.

Translations

synonym of information overload — see information overload

See also

• infostress

Further reading

• information overload on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “infobesity” (US) / “infobesity” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.