Abstract
PurposeThe article makes an empirical and conceptual contribution to understanding the temporalities of information literacies. The paper aims to identify different ways in which anticipation of certain outcomes shapes strategies and tactics for engagement with algorithmic information intermediaries. The paper suggests that, given the dominance of predictive algorithms in society, information literacies need to be understood as sites of anticipation.Design/methodology/approachThe article explores the ways in which the invisible algorithms of information intermediaries are conceptualised, made sense of and challenged by young people in their everyday lives. This is couched in a conceptual discussion of the role of anticipation in understanding expressions of information literacies in algorithmic cultures. The empirical material drawn on consists of semi-structured, pair interviews with 61 17–19 year olds, carried out in Sweden and Denmark. The analysis is carried out by means of a qualitative thematic analysis in three steps and along two sensitising concepts – agency and temporality.FindingsThe results are presented through three themes, anticipating personalisation, divergences and interventions. These highlight how articulating an anticipatory stance works towards connecting individual responsibilities, collective responsibilities and corporate interests and thus potentially facilitating an understanding of information as co-constituted by the socio-material conditions that enable it. This has clear implications for the framing of information literacies in relation to algorithmic systems.Originality/valueThe notion of algo-rhythm awareness constitutes a novel contribution to the field. By centring the role of anticipation in the emergence of information literacies, the article advances understanding of the temporalities of information.
Highlights
Information is increasingly folded into a platformised, automated information infrastructure employing algorithmic decision-making and leveraging different types of predictive analytics
Predictive analytics are central to how most contemporary information intermediaries work
They are programmed to calculate what users will experience as relevant content, and many work as recommender systems
Summary
Information is increasingly folded into a platformised, automated information infrastructure employing algorithmic decision-making and leveraging different types of predictive analytics. Predictive analytics are central to how most contemporary information intermediaries work. They are programmed to calculate what users will experience as relevant content, and many work as recommender systems.
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