Information overload is the wrong term because it...

“Information overload is the wrong term because it blames the information. That doesn’t make any sense because information isn’t something that can make decisions or be malicious. Information is something that informs decisions, and those decisions are made by people. We never say someone suffering from obesity is suffering from food overload. Bad food is manufactured by companies that are being run by people, being distributed by companies that are run by people, and being purchased with money from people. Spend a night in a room with a bucket of fried chicken, and provided you don’t eat it, your cholesterol is unlikely to change. Because of this mistake in how we look at the problem, we’re unable to fix it. Information overload’s message is, “put these tools on your computer, and you’ll better manage the information.” This kind of practice would be like trying to go on a food diet by buying a different kind of refrigerator, or trying to become a professional athlete by relying solely on the purchase of running shoes. The problem is, we don’t need to manage the information. We need to manage our consumption of it. In other words, we don’t suffer from information overload — we suffer from information overconsumption and poor consumption habits. The solution is just as simple as a successful food diet. It’s about building habits and healthy choices for yourself, and sticking to it.”

Don’t blame the information for your bad habits - O’Reilly Radar