Meaning, selection & narrative: the information we see and the information we don’t

In a world that is highly saturated by data, sifting it and making sense of it has become increasingly important. A key mechanism for this process is narrative – the stories we tell about the world, whether in terms of politics or technology, which enable us to select information that we see as important. Yet narratives are highly contested and multiple. This article discusses the dynamics of narrative creation, via a process of selective information, arguing that this leads some people to see particular data as crucial information, while leading others to ignore it completely.