Abstract
PurposeThis paper seeks to outline a social epistemological and ethical warrant for engaging in knowledge exchange on the social web, and to emphasise socio‐cognitive and emotional factors behind motivation and credibility in communities supported by social software. An attempt is made to identify positive and negative patterns of interaction from this perspective and to argue for more positive intervention on the part of the information profession.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines social epistemological and related theory, cognitive and social drivers of behaviour and then draws together evidence to justify the definition of patterns that will be important to the project.Research limitations/implicationsA programme of evaluating online knowledge exchange behaviour using a social epistemological framework is needed. In order to do this, methodological development coupling formal epistemological with interpretive techniques for examining belief formation are also necessary.Practical implicationsConsiderations for the design and deployment of knowledge platforms and for engagement with existing communities are outlined.Social implicationsThe ideas presented attempt to define an important role for the information profession within a new paradigm of participation and social interaction online.Originality/valueThe connection between social epistemology theory and LIS has long been appreciated, but social epistemology is rarely applied to practice or to online social platforms and communities.
Highlights
With the rise of Web2.0 and social media, the importance of socialisation to online knowledge acquisition and sharing has once again been fore grounded
We look at socially-oriented views of motivation, at factors influencing credibility in social contexts
While a number or studies have looked at online social behaviour on these platforms in relation to knowledge seeking and belief, it is our view that there remains a great deal of research that can be done using a social epistemological philosophy and its methods, combined with interpretive techniques that help clarify why certain online patterns and cues become persuasive and epistemically valuable
Summary
With the rise of Web2.0 and social media, the importance of socialisation to online knowledge acquisition and sharing has once again been fore grounded. While formal social epistemology as some have construed it may be too rationalist-objectivist to carry through usefully into LIS practice, a hermeneutic/phenomenological flavour, as outlined by information scientists, may be more apt in describing the online experience of the user in a sociable environment, who is forming beliefs based on mediated, informational and socio-emotional interpretations of what he experiences After establishing this foundation, we look at socially-oriented views of motivation (both to seek and to share knowledge), at factors influencing credibility in social contexts. A commonplace Web 2.0 feature, user profiles are seen as important for their “humanising” effect (Bell , 2009), In addition to information providing “answers” to an epistemic need, Rieh & Danielson note the importance attached to exposing the explanation and reasoning behind an answer in increasing credibility in the online environment (Rieh and Danielson, 2007) This observation has been lent further weight by recent work on the general knowledge exchange site Yahoo Answers. The message with online is to provide even more evidence of your bedside manner as the nonverbal cues are lacking, and (to switch from medical to mathematical metaphors), to show even more of your working
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