First used by literary critic Sheppard in a 1971Time Magazine review to refer a ‘layer of electronic and typographical smog’ composed of ‘entertainment, advertising and government’, infosphere consists of ‘information’ and ‘sphere. It mimics words like ‘biosphere’ or ‘stratosphere’ adapting the concept of ‘noosphere’, used in the mid 20^th century by philosopher Teilhard de Chardin to refer to collective inter-connected-ness of thought and spirit.

In its more recent use, infosphere refers to an environment populated by informational entities, and governed by informational logics as well as the digital, 24/7 many-to-many modes of communication. It also refers to the last stage of informationalisation, which succeeded the temporally discreet one-to-many modes of communication characteristic of mass media, such as the radio and television.