Are People Better Informed in the Information Society - Essay Example

Are People Better Informed in the Information SocietyPeople always tend to be as informed as their source of information. The information that people receive to keep them abreast has a source. The richness of information in this source determines the extent to which people, who depend on the source, will be informed. This, therefore, means that if the source has rumors and shallow information, so too will the people receive and transmit to one another. In an informed society, it is expected that the public will have access to resources, attitudes, knowledge and skills that are necessary to access and synthesize information.

The deliberate and non-deliberate participation in the interpretation and spread of information is one attribute that makes our society an informed society. People have not just the liberty to access all types of information, but also to spread it once acquired.Being in an information society, therefore, gives one an opportunity to access information. According to Nardi et al. (1999), the quest for information, which is tightly associated with human curiosity, is the basis and foundation of informational security.

When a piece of information is concealed, it raises interest, and the search for it intensifies. This is in comparison to open information that often appears unworthy and less enticing. In an era when the society has all the tools necessary to access valuable and interesting information, people get more informed.Regarding this issue, I would also assume the position taken by Linda Jackson. The accessibility to sources of information has improved not only the peoples confident in sharing information, but also increases the learners’ ability to synthesize and interpret information.

For instance, a classroom setting may not have all the necessary material and illustrations to drive home a point in for all the students. However, when much more of the illustrations are available on the Internet, the informational gap is bridged. It is agreeable that with increased rational use of the internet, people become relatively better informed. In addition, the more the people get informed, the more they enrich themselves as sources of information to others. A real example in this case is a teacher who reads widely on his topic before sharing with the students.

The teacher has access to the information from the wider network, enrich their ‘stores’ of information and become a source for the students.One significant attributed benefit of technology is increasing the access to information. The Internet has worked to the advantage of human beings whose quest for knowledge and information seems insatiable. It is worth noting that the internet provides a broad range of information, even regarding itself, and that may be confusing and destructive. However, in as much as rational use of the technology is emphasized, the information society, we live in, can bring from itself an informed people.

Despite the negative aspects of the information society that have demeaned the importance of technology as informative, the society today can barely survive without the information achieved from technology. This does not make us dumber but proves the point that the creativity and the authenticity of the Stone Age may be respected today, but they do not help much.Works citedNardi, Bonnie A, and Vicki O'Day. Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1999. Print.