Imagine what would happen if you (as a human being) are to be transfigured into a newspaper or a webpage for a single day. I mean, imagine living out 24 hours not as a human being, but as a newspaper or webpage, or as a video or an audio file. How do you imagine life would be?

You will certainly earn the most attention in your life that day. As a piece of information, people will give you all their attention, share you around, discuss you with friends. You will be sorted and catalogued, and you will even be kept as a reference for another day!

Don’t get us wrong. We are not saying people don’t give each other enough attention unless one of them can become a newspaper or video! No really. No.

…Although that might be true.

The point here is that people love information. They adore it. They hunt it. They share it. They keep it. And they like to have as much of it as possible filling up their minds. Even if it is gossip!

Some people were born in a time when steam engines and royal courts scandals and pomp were the in-thing. They embrace their time, learned and live within it, ravenously followed the latest news and scandals of their days, and died off.

How they live and what they wrote is still being read today.

Some people after them were born in an age when jet planes and radio telegraphy was the rage. They embrace their time, watched Kennedy die, heard Martin Luther King speak, and witnessed Afghanistan invaded. We have their videos – How they live and what they did is still being watched today.

Our ability to produce new information as human beings is only equally matched by our ability to consume them. In fact, we devour information! Hungrily.

The more it is produced, the more we crave for it.

The long and the short of it is that: generally, we are all Infovores. In our different peculiar ways.

Welcome to 2019 AD. In the century of the Infovores.

WHO, WHAT, AND WHERE ARE INFOVORES?

Who is an Infovore, you might ask. And what does this article want to say about them?

The term “Infovore” was coined by two scientists; Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California in University Park and Edward Vessel of New York University, while they were investigating why humans seems to enjoy learning something new. ^[1]

Pause. This is not to say Infovores only arrived in the 20th Century. No. In fact, throughout history, humankind have relied on information to develop their communities.

You remember lions are carnivores, deers are herbivores…? We just want you to take note of the “-vore”.

Now;

An Infovore is simply a person that has a voracious appetite for information. ^[2] Or a person who indulges in and desires information gathering and interpretation. ^[3]

Does that sound like you?

It sounds like us though.

What we want to address is not the blasé act of just gathering information. But rather the why and how of information gathering and usage, especially in the light of 21st century trends.

WHAT INFOVORES DO

Think of how you seek and treat information for your daily living and you will understand what Infovores do.

Infovores are not necessarily professional information gatherers or users.

Infovore is you carefully reading the label on the strange bottle of sauce you want to try out, Infovore is you attentively watching the weather report on television, Infovore is you staring at the traffic light, waiting for it to turn green before you press down the pedal.

THE INFOVOROUS CENTURY BEGUN

Accurately, humans thirst for information began as soon as they are born. And that is how it has been since pre-history.

However though, in recent history, the 20th Century is notable for the being the first real age of information domination; the time when information became institutionalized and not just an act.

It was a lucky century though. Because while information was able to proliferate through scientific research, more efficient printing, publishing and distribution techniques, and introduction of new medium of information dissemination like radio and television, it was also a century where information is still traceable, accountable and very deliberate.

During this time, there were fewer channels of information production. Sure, many were produced sloppily, but they were deliberate, mostly pre-meditated and curated. It was not the age of the cheap dot coms and social media networks.

INFOVORES ARE SAINTS AND SINNERS

Corporations, governments, organizations and religious bodies were quick to realize the enormous potential in organized distribution of information.

They are aware of a mass of yearning listeners, readers, viewers and promoters ready to snap and take action upon any information being churned out by any source they deem “trustworthy”.

Among the many classic examples was how the British government drummed up support at home for its participation in the Crimea war (1853-1856). ^[4] The war was the first time people were able to get almost instantaneous reports of war situations at home through the then new technology of Telegraphy.

War reports were organized, cleaned and analyzed before they were broadcasted back to Britain.

The people were happy or sad (as the case may be) with what they were hearing, and they quickly gave their government every backing. The result was that Britain was among the winners of the war.

Or perhaps, timely information won the war!

Almost a century later, Adolf Hitler used a similar technique to achieve an evil end. ^[5] It was the same careful information composition and distribution that was used to rouse up the British public to support their government in the Crimean war situation that he (Hitler) and his minions also used to direct the mind of the German public towards hatred, persecution and mass killing of Jews.

He called it propaganda.

We got World War II for that.

Information is a good thing though. It is a weapon. And like all weapons, it can be used as an instrument of propagating good or fomenting evil.

Franklin Roosevelt understood this better when he began his so-called Fireside Chats in 1933. ^[6] It was the first time an American President will be having fairly regular radio broadcasts specifically directed towards the American people. Through his broadcasts, he was able to calm nerves, explain complex government policies in simple language to the American people; led them through the end of a notorious economic depression, and instill confidence in the citizens about his leadership.

He not only won World War II. He was elected four times to be America’s President! The only person in that country’s history to achieve that ever.

All over the world, the power of Information was being recognized and tapped. To be used for both good and evil ends. Politicians lie, religious leaders betray and corporations swindle their employees and customers through careful manipulations of information.

Wasn’t it some certain information that was dug up that brought down President Nixon in 1974? ^[7] Wasn’t it information dissemination that chased the Shah out of Iran in 1979? ^[8] Was it not information from Khomeini to the Iranian people that brought him in to replace the Shah afterwards? ^[9]

Information “hunters” indirectly killed a British Princess in 1997! ^[10].

The Catholic Church swept priestly sexual scandals under the carpet for many centuries until mass information availability and dissemination blew it out of official circles. The Pope is feverishly attending to that now.

Information is a double edged sword. At the same time, it is our remote control. It is no surprise that a whole century was shaped by the kind of information that the people were fed or had access to.

But it is never our fault that we are infovores!

INFOVORES CAUSED IT ALL

The century before year 2001 is an interesting century as you can see. Those who lived through it knows what we are saying.

It was a century of publishing and glamour. Of an enormous interest in science. And it is the century that sow the seed of the 21st Century; the information age.

Between 1900 and year 2000, there was an extremely exponential increase in the means of obtaining information. The century started with nothing more advanced than the most rudimentary of radios, but it ended with space based satellite communication, GPS and the internet.

Between then and now, magazine and book publishers increased, radio and television stations multiplied, color photography became a necessity rather than a luxury, the internet arrived, blogs were born, almost all companies have their presence on the internet, books were digitized, virtual reality technology became commonplace, podcasts were streamed, travelers have GPS, the Wi-Fi became commonplace….

And all the information produced by these sources were ravenously consumed!

Among what people consumed were poisonous information. These are information that are biased, slanderous, or meant to set a group of people unfairly against another group.

It was a kind of information that gave birth to the Osama bin Ladens of this world and people of like minds like him. It was also the evil manipulation of information by the western media that attached the label of “terrorists” to all Muslims because of the actions of these few. It unfairly caused Islamophobia.

The problem is that there is no brand of information without its consumers. People even consume lies when they know they are doing so. But since that is the only information available to them, they even pay money to consume it!

Is it ever their fault that they are infovores?

THE COMING OF FAKE NEWS AND THE NEW CENTURY

We are now in a different time altogether. Information production have left the hands of organizations and is now mostly in the hands of ordinary people.

This is especially noticeable with the advent of social media and the popularity of the internet.

It is the era of fake news. An era of poor curation. An era of informational free-for-all!

While this may have its advantages, the disadvantages of an outsized power of expression being given to anyone and everyone far outweigh its advantages.

Fake news shared on social media have led to killings, stigmatization, racism and unwarranted hate of groups of people.

Fake news had almost brought down governments.

For what it is, we and you are at the receiving end. We are the children of an information age now buried neck deep in same information that we now can’t sort, can’t make sense of, and is certainly paranoid about.

Even more frighteningly, most of the information now being produced will most likely add no value whatsoever to our lives and living.

This is not everywhere though – As much as not everyone fold their arms while the situation keep getting worse.

At infovoresecrets.com, we pride ourselves as being one of the few bodies worldwide doing all it can to make only good information available to world readers. And this information is succinct (or exhaustive as the case may be), straightforward, truthful and enormously beneficial.

We have been there and we know what we are talking about.

THE ZETTABYTE ERA AND THE INFOVORE

In 2016, we were declared to be in the “Zettabyte Era” as regards the level of information now available and flying around.

A zettabyte is a multiple of the unit byte that measures digital storage, and it is equivalent to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 [10^²¹ ] bytes, ^[11] or about 1 trillion gigabytes!

According to Cisco Systems, an American multinational technology conglomerate, the global IP traffic achieved an estimated 1.2 zettabytes (or an average of 96 exabytes (EB) per month) in 2016. ^[12]

Global IP traffic refers to all digital data that passes over an IP network which includes, but is not limited to, the public Internet (e.g security cameras and voice data from cell-phone calls). ^[13]

As former Google CEO Eric Schmidt puts it, from the very beginning of (human history) to the year 2003, an estimated 5 exabytes of information was created, ^[14] which corresponds to the 0.5% of a zettabyte only. In 2013 that amount of information (5 exabytes) took only two days to create and that pace is continuously growing ^[15]. This claim appears not to be entirely true but we all agree that we now have an enormous amount of data (information) on our hands.

The largest contributing factor to the growth of IP traffic comes from video traffic (including online streaming services like Netflix and YouTube). ^[16]

Realities like coming into the zettabyte era shouldn’t frighten anyone normally. But some Infovores are already cracking under the strain of having too much information to handle, and the future doesn’t promise a relief yet.

THE BURDEN OF INFORMATION

The Infovore is saddled with many burdens now. Two of these burdens are the most prominent:

1. The burden of verification of information accuracy

2. The burden of choosing the best and the most beneficial information for his/her physical and mental well-being out of the avalanche of information now available to him/her.

By all means, these burdens have to be addressed by good Infovores at all times. Especially the first.

Fortunately, there are now many individuals and organizations fighting the scourge of misinformation that is threatening to take over the information highway.

One of the best among these is snopes.com, a fact checking website that’s been at the task since 1994. ^[17] Sites like these makes it worth being an Infovore. What it does is debunk internet rumors, provide rational explanations for urban legends or even debunk it totally, and verify news sources.

It is a hugely popular site, but the world can do with a lot more like it. Infovores shouldn’t be choked with “Info-lies”.

In the same vein, especially with regards to the second burden on Infovores just outlined above, our site infovoresecrets.com is created to purify the information getting to you; with a strong focus on giving you information on how to tackle information overload, cutting back on irrelevant information, improving your memory and living an informed life.

Our aim is to raise a new generation of refreshed infovores. And with this article through which you have now known so much about Infovores and their lives, we know we are a step closer to achieving it; In fact, we are optimistic that the future is bright!

Infovore FAQ

What does "infovore" mean?

Infovore is gotten from two words; information and -vore. Crudely, it means to consume information.
Infovore is a person that loves gathering and consuming information.

Am I an infovore?

Yes, if you have passion for seeking information and consuming it.

What is the difference between a scholar and an infovore?

All scholars are infovores but not all infovores are scholars. To learn more, please read our article titled How to tell a scholar apart from a fool.

Should I strive to be an infovore?

Yes, it is cool to be an infovore. However, make sure you only indulge yourself in gathering good and quality information. Avoid fake news at all cost.

References:

 1.          The word: Infovore – https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125612-200-the-word-infovore/ (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

 2.          Infovore – https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=infovore (Retrieved 24-3-2019)

 3.          Infovore – https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/infovore (Retrieved 24-3-2019)

 4.          8 things you may not know about the Crimean War – https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-crimean-war (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

 5.          Propanganda in Nazi Germany – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_Nazi_Germany  (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

 6.          The Fireside Chats – HISTORY – https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/fireside-chats (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

 7.          Nixon White House Tapes – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_White_House_tapes (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

 8.          Iranians Jubilant as Shah Departs – https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/17/iranians-jubilant-as-shah-departs/ec7695d8-3327-43ee-b364-2170e9cacf4b/?utm_term=.fbe1ecbcebe6&noredirect=on (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

 9. Ruhollah Khomeini – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

10. Diana’s death: Did tragedy change paparazzi tactics? – https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/08/30/dianas-death-did-tragedy-change-paparazzi-tactics/533837001/ (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

11. Zettabyte Era – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettabyte_Era (Retrieved 26-3-2019)

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Snopes is the internet definitive fact-checking resource – https://www.snopes.com/about-snopes/ (Retrieved 26-3-2019)