Nicholas Craig column

May 13 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

Rudyard Kipling claimed that words are "the most powerful drug used by mankind". What would he have made of the way instant messaging, serial spam and daily emails have turned the internet into a cyber opium den?

Not only are we bombarded by emails proclaiming freedom from debts, bigger muscles and dubious competition wins, but now we have an array of instant messages that allow us to chat with other messengers through free downloadable software programs at any time of day or night.

Instant messaging is a step too far for me. In the last 10 years the march of technology has turned into a 100m sprint, with new gadgets and gizmos threatening to ease our way through the working day. It has come to the point where new office technology is becoming a hindrance to work, rather than a help.

Now we are always "available". At work, home, on the train, in restaurants, in the street; where we used to be able to switch off, we can no longer do so. A survey of office workers in four countries shows that most are interrupted every 10 minutes by telephones, faxes and emails.

More and more of us are becoming victims of what has been christened ``information fatigue syndrome". Symptoms include exhaustion, anxiety, failure of memory and shortness of attention in the face of the uncontrollable onrush of facts. Too much information can be as dangerous as having too little, making it far harder to find the right solutions or make the best decisions.

The spectre of information overload is pushed aside by technophiles as a fantasy of panicky luddites. However, even for those of us who appreciate new technology, there is still a limit, beyond which privacy and a quiet personal corner are shattered. Now laptops can be connected to mobile phones, and Blackberrys carry the email burden of the office to your home and holiday destination. Being unavailable is becoming unacceptable.

The information revolution gives us a multitude of ways in which we can have the knowledge we need at our fingertips. However, we also need to communicate the old-fashioned way.

Let's log off, take a bit more time to talk, and do it face to face rather than staring at a keyboard.

To quote Rudyard Kipling yet again, ``if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue" you'll gain far more than instant messaging can ever offer.