What is Infobesity?

Today, information overload is being termed, as I would call it, Infobesity. The term was first used in the early 2000’s coining the mass amounts of information users could interact with in digital spaces, mostly through email and web-based platforms, such as Google and Yahoo.

Fast forward 20+ years, and the rise of modern-day affects of infobesity continues. It has been difficult for researchers to determine these affects with peer-reviewed clarity. However, since the COVID pandemic, there has been a renewed focus on the effects of digital information on modern-day society.

Even as you read this, you may have experienced the effects, positive or negative, of modern-day information. Mild forms of infobesity, for example, are linked to corrosion of emotional well-being, cognitive distractions, relational isolationism, polarization, and digital addiction.

In saying this, as modern-day disciples of Jesus living in a digital world, the goal is to develop healthy, redemptive, and Biblical practices to thrive in an Infobese world.

If I can be bold enough to say… we live in the middle of a modern-day reformation. Information, technology, and human advancement have accelerated like never before. Since the invention of the Gutenberg printing press five hundred years ago information has been readily accessible through print. This has caused a massive wealth of knowledge, reformation, and advancement for the betterment of humanity. Yet, in the Zuckerberg era, information has become flatlined, authority lines challenged, modes of truth - perhaps - cheapened, and content over saturation resulting in Infobesity.

This is WHY modern-day followers of Jesus need to address information overload well. If we can understand, create boundaries, and redeem digital spaces, we have the opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus with the world!

Wouldn’t Jesus do the same?