Information society

An information society is a specific type of social organization. In this society, the creation and use of information is a primary activity. People spend much of their time creating, distributing, and manipulating data. This process is driven by information and communication technologies. These technologies allow information to grow at an incredibly rapid pace. This growth impacts almost every part of human life. It changes how we manage education, health, and government. It even alters how nations handle warfare and democracy.

To understand this, we must look at how information functions. Scholar Michael Buckland suggests that information can be viewed in three ways. First, it can be seen as knowledge itself. Second, it can be viewed as a process of communication. Third, it can be treated as a physical thing or object. In an information society, the main focus is on providing services. These services involve capturing, processing, and communicating data. Most work in this society is dedicated to the distribution of information. This is a major shift from societies focused on physical manufacturing.

There are different ways to categorize this new economic structure. Marc Porat identified two distinct sectors within the information economy. The primary sector involves information goods used to produce more information. This includes tools for processing or distributing data. The secondary sector involves information services used by governments and other firms. These services are for internal consumption rather than direct sale. Some experts use these sectors to measure how advanced an information society is. They look at the share of a nation's total economy produced by these sectors.

History shows us a steady transition toward this new era. Many theorists believe this transformation began between the 1970s and the early 1990s. This period included major shifts in global economies. The information society is often seen as a successor to industrial society. Industrial societies focused on the mass production of material goods. In contrast, the information society focuses on the production of knowledge. This shift is sometimes called the Information Revolution or the Information Age. It represents a fundamental change in how human societies function.

We can see the scale of this change through specific data. In 1986, the world's capacity to store information was 2.6 exabytes. This was roughly equivalent to one 730-MB CD-ROM per person. By 2007, that capacity grew to 295 exabytes. This represents a massive increase in our ability to keep digital records. By 2007, 94% of all stored data was digital. Additionally, the capacity to compute information grew extremely fast. In 1986, computing power was measured at 3.0 x 10^8 MIPS. By 2007, it had reached 6.4 x 10^12 MIPS. This growth rate exceeded 60% per year for two decades.

Early researchers helped define these economic shifts. Economist Fritz Machlup was one of the first to study this. In 1962, he published a study on the production of knowledge. He identified five sectors of the knowledge industry. These include education, research and development, mass media, information technologies, and information services. Machlup found that knowledge industries were already very significant. In 1959, these industries produced 29% of the GNP in the United States. This showed that knowledge was becoming a central pillar of the economy.

This shift creates new challenges for the modern workforce. Some thinkers, like Antonio Negri, describe this as a move toward "immaterial labour." This refers to the production of knowledge and cultural artifacts. This model suggests that the economy relies on creative people. However, this can create a gap between different types of workers. For example, a few "star performers" might dominate the market. Their work can be easily distributed to a massive audience. This can make it harder for secondary players to find success. This is seen in how publishers focus on best-selling authors. It is also seen in how films are judged by their first weekend of sales.