information age

American  

noun

(sometimes initial capital letters)

1. a period beginning about 1975 and characterized by the gathering and almost instantaneous transmission of vast amounts of information and by the rise of information-based industries.

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information age British  

noun

1. a time when large amounts of information are widely available to many people, largely through computer technology

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Etymology

Origin of information age

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

The new information age didn’t stop the market built on margin loans from crashing down in October 1929, six weeks after the Dow’s high.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

"We live in the information age, yet we store our knowledge in media that are astonishingly short-lived," says Alexander Kirnbauer.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

The Industrial Revolution, the information age, and the early digital economy all show what happens when we let innovation raise the baseline: more opportunity, more discovery, more unexpected flashes of genius.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

"The government cannot get into my family WhatsApp group. There are some channels which you cannot break into in the information age that we live in," she added.

From BBC • Nov. 23, 2023

The information age has created a stickiness problem.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell