Global Information Flow: Systems, Sources, and Impact

Global Information: Sources, Systems, and Real-Time Flow

Information is distributed globally today in real time, connecting people and organizations across vast distances.

The Reach of Global Communication

Technology has connected people to an unprecedented degree. Consider these examples of global connectivity:

• You can call a friend in Stockholm, Sweden, on your cell phone, though time zones remain a consideration.
• Email messages are sent from almost anywhere in the world and received in nearly any setting. Most public facilities and educational institutions now offer “live” or wireless reception areas.
• Personal communication channels make it easy to keep in touch with friends, family, and business 24/7.
• Mass communication channels operate on the same global schedule. You can find CNN on television in hotel rooms all over the world.
• Organizations, both profit and nonprofit, maintain contact with employees globally via intranet and with their business contacts—buyers, suppliers, distributors, and investors—via the Internet.

Beyond Tools: Understanding Information Dynamics

While communication tools are readily available, the true difference in the transfer of understanding lies in the sources and systems, along with their underlying concepts, economics, and politics.

Concepts: Individual and Societal Decision Making

Concepts are important because there are two levels of decision-making in any culture: individual and societal. A culture, however, may determine which level dominates.

Government Systems and Communication Infrastructure

The government system's structure provides infrastructure for communication and either provides for or restrains individual freedom of communication.

Economic Aspects of Information Distribution

The economic aspect is another consideration. Information may be commercially based, where messages are competitive, or government-based, supporting government systems.

Navigating Information Saturation

Technology has saturated global society with information from satellite delivery systems, making it necessary to organize this information into meaningful context. Sorting facts from opinion is a start, but even facts often conflict. Critical thinkers examine information sources.

Critical Thinking and Information Sources

Although information may not originate with the immediate source, it helps to examine two major categories: interpersonal channels and extrapersonal (or public) channels. Public channels include mass media, as well as corporate and nonprofit media.

Context and Impact on Decision Making

What is communicated is intended for both individual and communal decision-making. Some societies are more dependent on one than the other, but in either case, individuals must make sense of messages. The context for their attention to and use of information depends on their cultural, social, political, and economic circumstances.

Cultural, Social, Political, and Economic Influences

Cultures convey values that influence how people react to and act upon information. Exposure to information often depends upon government structures and their stability. Structures and stability vary, and within them, individual freedoms and responsibilities also differ.

Economies are either commercially based and competitive, or government-based and supportive. An individual evaluating the significance of a message with economic consequences will assess it according to personal experiences with economic structures. In a competitive marketplace, information about the economy is more likely to get attention than in a government-based system where individuals may be somewhat protected from economic turbulence, unless the political system becomes unstable. These factors must be taken into consideration.