Social Information Seeking Research Articles

Examining the Impact of Brenda Dervin's Sense‐Making Methodology across Different Fields

ABSTRACTBrenda Dervin's Sense‐Making Methodology has had a significant impact on communication, information science, and other fields, with over 18,800 citations on Google Scholar. Researchers over the years, including a recent ARIST review, have studied Dervin's work. However, prior research has not analyzed a single article to see how it has been cited over the years across different fields. In this study, we examine 50 of the 1,766 articles published after the year 2000 that cited her 1983 paper. The research question investigated is, “What is the impact of Dervin's Sense Making Methodology in the twenty‐first century in fields outside of information science?” We found that sense‐making has been applied to social media, academia, and health information seeking, among other related fields. The findings should be useful to scholars interested in information science and methodology. The study also shows that information science is not a siloed field and impacts other fields.

Digitalisation of onboarding: A case study to investigate the impact of virtual reality technology on employees social interactions and information seeking during job-onboarding

Digitalisation of onboarding: A case study to investigate the impact of virtual reality technology on employees social interactions and information seeking during job-onboarding

Information work and digital support during the perinatal period: Perspectives of mothers and healthcare professionals.

During pregnancy and early motherhood, the perinatal period, women use a variety of resources including digital resources to support social interactions, information seeking and health monitoring. While previous studies have investigated specific timepoints, this study takes a more holistic approach to understand how information needs and resources change over the perinatal period. Furthermore, we include the perspective of maternity healthcare professionals to better understand the relationship between different stakeholders in the information work of perinatal women. A total of 25 interviews with 10 UK based mothers and 5 healthcare professionals (3 Midwives and 2 Health visitors) were conducted. Perinatal women were asked about their information and support needs throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period, healthcare professionals were asked about information and support provision to perinatal women. Information work activities were grouped along stages of the perinatal timeline from pre-pregnancy to the postanal period to illustrate the work and perspectives of the women and the healthcare professionals. Information work varies considerably over the timeline of the perinatal period, shifting back and forth in focus between mother and baby. information work during this period consists of many information related activities including seeking, monitoring, recording, questioning, sharing and checking. The importance of the HCPs as stakeholders in this work is notable as is the digital support for information work. Importantly, paper-based resources are still an important shared resource allowing reflection and supporting communication. Information work for women varies across the perinatal timeline. Particular challenges exist at key transition points, and we suggest design considerations for more integrated digital resources that support information work focused on mother and baby to enhance communication between perinatal women and healthcare professionals.

Ameliorative Effects of Television Watching Behavior and Motivation on the Fear of COVID-19 in Older Chinese Adults During the Pandemic.

The aim of this study was to investigate the television (TV) consumption patterns (viewing behavior and motivation) of older adults in Wuhan, China, during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on older adults' mental health, particularly in relation to COVID-19-induced fear. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 405 older adults in Wuhan, China. The data were analyzed using a structural equation model to understand the relationship between TV viewing behavior, motivation, and fear related to COVID-19. The findings indicate that the motivation to watch TV has a positive influence on viewing behavior among older adults during the pandemic. However, this motivation negatively impacts their COVID-19-related fear. Furthermore, a negative correlation was observed between viewing behavior and fear. The primary motivations for TV viewing among older adults during the pandemic were identified as social interaction and emotion management, followed by information seeking and value expression. The findings suggest that TV viewing plays a significant role in the mental well-being of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. By addressing the motivations of social interaction, emotion management, information seeking, and value expression, public health organizations and TV stations can contribute to the mental health of this vulnerable population.

Examining the roles of social media information exposure and seeking on COVID-19 vaccination through the S-O-R model: A two-wave panel in Hong Kong

This study draws upon the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) framework in examining the influence of stimulus factors (i.e., passive exposure to and active information seeking for COVID-19 vaccine information on social media) on users' internal psychological mechanisms (i.e., perceived information overload and psychological reactance) and vaccination behavior. We collected two-wave online panel data (W1 N = 411, W2 N = 264) in Hong Kong and tested our hypothesized model using structural equation modeling. The results showed that passive information exposure and active information seeking on social media were positively associated with both vaccination initiation (i.e., receiving the first dose) and full vaccination (i.e., completing the recommended 3-dose schedule at W2). We identified different mediation pathways from passive information exposure and active information seeking to vaccine skepticism through perceived information overload and psychological reactance. Specifically, a double-edged sword effect was found for active information seeking. Active information seeking was associated with lower vaccine skepticism both directly and indirectly through lower psychological reactance. On the other hand, active information seeking was associated with higher perceived information overload, which in turn was associated with higher psychological reactance and subsequently higher vaccine skepticism. Passive information exposure indirectly affected psychological state and vaccine skepticism through higher active information seeking. These findings contribute to the literature on the impact of social media use on vaccination behavior in the context of public health emergencies and offer practical implications for governments and social media platforms in risk communication and vaccination promotion.

Why Is One Social Media Platform Not Enough? A Typology of Platform-Swinging Behavior and Associated Affordance Preferences

This study seeks to advance the scholarship on the phenomenon of social media platform-swinging in the context of the polymedia environment in China. Specifically, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of uses and gratifications and channel complementarity theory, we propose that the platform-swinging behavior is driven by users’ various complementary and supplementary needs. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews, we identify four distinct types of platform-swinging behavior: social connecting, impression managing, information seeking, and aimless swinging. We further reveal that, depending on various complementary and supplementary needs, each type of platform-swinging behavior has distinct media affordance preferences. By profiling the distinct platform-swinging behaviors and examining their preferred affordances, the study advances our theoretical understanding of the dynamics between the polymedia ecology and users’ gratifications.

Health literacy, eHealth literacy and their association with burden, distress, and self-efficacy among cancer caregivers.

Health literacy skills are vital for cancer caregivers in helping cancer survivors to navigate their diagnosis, treatment, and recovery but little is known. This study explored health literacy and eHealth literacy among cancer caregivers and the relationship between health literacy/eHealth literacy and potential associated factors. Informal caregivers who had cared for an individual with cancer completed a survey which collected demographic data and measured caregiver health literacy, eHealth literacy, self-efficacy, burden, and distress. Seven percent of caregivers had inadequate health literacy. Caregivers scored lowest on health literacy domains related to caregiver social support, information seeking and understanding care recipient preferences. eHealth literacy was associated with self-efficacy and burden while, different health literacy domains were associated with burden ('Understanding care recipient needs and preferences'), self-efficacy ('Cancer-related communication with the care recipient' and 'Understanding care recipients needs and preferences') and distress ('Proactivity and determination to seek information', 'Understanding care recipient needs and preferences', 'Understanding the healthcare system'). Findings highlight key areas of need regarding cancer caregiver health literacy which future research can target. Given the observed relationship between aspects of health literacy and burden, distress and self-efficacy future work could be carried out on how to alleviate high levels of burden and distress and how to enhance self-efficacy among cancer caregivers by addressing health literacy skills. Findings from this study will inform the development of health literacy interventions to support caregivers to build their health literacy skills and enable this group to better support cancer survivors as a result.

Characteristics and associated factors of health information-seeking behaviour among patients with inflammatory bowel disease in the digital era: a scoping review

BackgroundHealth Information-Seeking Behaviour (HISB) is necessary for self-management and medical decision-making among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). With the advancement of information technology, health information needs and seeking are reshaped among patients with IBD. This scoping review aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of HISB of people with IBD in the digital age.MethodsThis scoping review adhered to Arksey and O'Malley's framework and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews frameworks (PRISMA-ScR). A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and three Chinese databases from January 1, 2010 to April 10, 2023. Employing both deductive and inductive content analysis, we scrutinized studies using Wilson's model.ResultsIn total, 56 articles were selected. Within the information dimension of HISB among patients with IBD, treatment-related information, particularly medication-related information, was identified as the most critical information need. Other information requirements included basic IBD-related information, daily life and self-management, sexual and reproductive health, and other needs. In the sources dimension, of the eight common sources of information, the internet was the most frequently mentioned source of information, while face-to-face communication with healthcare professionals was the preferred source. Associated factors were categorized into six categories: demographic characteristics, psychological aspects, role-related or interpersonal traits, environmental aspects, source-related characteristics, and disease-related factors. Moreover, the results showed five types of HISB among people with IBD, including active searching, ongoing searching, passive attention, passive searching, and avoid seeking. Notably, active searching, especially social information seeking, appeared to be the predominant common type of HISB among people with IBD in the digital era.ConclusionInformation needs and sources for patients with IBD exhibit variability, and their health information-seeking behaviour is influenced by a combination of diverse factors, including resource-related and individual factors. Future research should focus on the longitudinal changes in HISB among patients with IBD. Moreover, efforts should be made to develop information resources that are both convenient and provide credible information services, although the development of such resources requires further investigation and evaluation.

Linking Health Consciousness and Social Media Information Seeking to College Students COVID-19 Prevention Behavior: Examining a Modified IMBP Model

Health consciousness and health information seeking have been conceptually and empirically linked. Few studies, however, have explored the implications this relationship has for driving specific health perceptions and behaviors. In a modified test of the integrated model of behavioral prediction (IMBP) we examine these two factors as health motivators helping explain COVID-19 judgements and prevention behaviors. Simple mediation tests show social media information seeking operating as a modest intervening factor between health consciousness and COVID-19 attitudes and perceived behavior control (PBC); however, health consciousness remains a robust, direct predictor of attitudes, PBC, and subjective norms. Finally, tests of the modified IMBP highlight norms, attitudes, and PBC mediating the relationship between both health consciousness and social media information seeking on COVID-19 prevention behaviors.

Quantitatively Identifying Messaging Topics to Encourage West Virginia nurses’ COVID-19 Vaccination

Nurses are particularly influential to others as it relates to COVID-19 vaccination decision-making and are at higher risk of COVID-19 themselves. Yet, nurses’ COVID-19 vaccination remains suboptimal. This study combines communication science frameworks with a novel conceptualize of identity—identity fusion—to explore why nurses may not vaccinate and what strategies might encourage them to protect themselves from COVID-19. Practicing nurses recruited from the West Virginia Nurses Association (N = 328) were asked about their nursing identity, COVID-19 threat perceptions, vaccination efficacy perceptions, vaccination social norms, and both vaccination and information seeking plans. Findings show that social norms may have particular influence over nurses’ vaccination intentions, though this is unique to nurses who do not view themselves as completely “fused” with the nursing identity. “Fully fused” nurses, on the other hand, may respond well to information conveying their particular risk for COVID-19. Data suggest information on one’s self-efficacy or ability to get vaccinated should be avoided, as it might discourage some nurses’vaccination. Findings are discussed in terms of how identity may influence vaccination.

Do social media matter? The effects of information seeking on COVID-19 psychological and behavioral processes

With the evolution of media technologies, social media have developed as a means to purposive and incidental use and subsequent benefits and detriments. This study investigates how individuals’ use of information via social media helps them achieve psychological and behavioral advances in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study’s novelty lies in its positioning of social media information seeking (SMIS) as a precursor to the staged behavioral processes of the Theory of Planned Behavior. This novel extension entails the testing of a conceptual model of the influence of SMIS on three psychological factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control), which, in turn, predict behavioral intention. It implements cross-sectional data from a survey of adults in New York City in 2020 (N = 1,021). The structural equation models were well-fitting and generally validated by the data, including the posited two steps from SMIS to psychological factors to behavioral intention. Structural equation modeling underscores the role of SMIS as a core driver of wearing a facemask, with positive effects on attitudes and perceived behavioral control and subsequent mediated positive effects on behavioral intention. In terms of sheltering in place, there was evidence of positive effects of SMIS on perceived behavioral control and, in turn, from the three psychological factors to behavioral intention, but the mediation role of the psychological factors was weaker in this model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Perception of Social Media Credibility and Health Information seeking Behaviour: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey of Youths in South West Nigeria

Perception of Social Media Credibility and Health Information seeking Behaviour: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey of Youths in South West Nigeria

Social Networking Site Usage of Middle-Aged and Older Deaf Adults.

Social networking sites (SNS) have become increasingly popular in modern society; however, there is insufficient research into the impacts of SNS use on middle-aged and older Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) individuals. D/HH SNS users belonging to the Baby Boomer generation or Generation X (born 1946-1980) were recruited for this study. A mixed-methods approach was utilized, with a survey (n = 32) and interviews (n = 3), to examine primary reasons for use, perceived accessibility of interactions, the relationship between SNS use and life satisfaction, and the impacts of SNS use on this population. SNS platforms were found to be primarily used for social interaction, information seeking, and entertainment purposes. This study further showed that SNS interactions with hearing individuals were significantly more accessible than in-person interactions. The thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed four key themes: exposure and representation, accessibility and social connection, privacy, and ideological polarization. The overall feelings towards these platforms were positive. SNS platforms allowed for increased accessibility through reducing communication barriers. Additionally, as SNS platforms have become increasingly prevalent, participants noted increased representation of the Deaf community within movies and television. This preliminary information sets important groundwork for future research, which can be used to increase the positive impacts for other D/HH individuals.

An approach to targeted promotion of HPV vaccination based on parental preferences for social media content

PurposeEffectiveness of message tactics in social marketing projects often varies across groups of individuals, which suggests the importance of tailoring communication approaches to maximize the success of promotional strategies. This study aims to contribute in this direction by using an innovative approach to promote targeted human papillomavirus vaccination, applying conjoint analysis to understand parental preferences for social media content features.Design/methodology/approachAn online purpose-built quantitative survey was administered to a group of parents meeting eligibility criteria. The survey questions were designed based on inputs from formative qualitative research conducted in a previous phase of the study.FindingsIn the overall sample of 285 parents, responses show that image was the most important feature of social media posts overall, followed by source and text. Cluster analysis identified eight segments in the sample based on parental preferences for content features. Significant differences across segments were identified in terms of need for cognition, vaccine hesitancy, parental gender, concerns around side effects, trust in medical providers, information sharing behaviors on social media and information seeking online.Originality/valueThe application of conjoint analysis to promotional content allows to assess which features of the content are most important in persuading different individuals and provide insights on how people process the information, ultimately to inform targeted promotion based on preferences. Conjoint analysis has been widely used in consumer research to explore audience preferences for products or services, but only a few applications of conjoint analysis to the design and testing of promotional content are found in the literature.

Does the Internet Moderate the Neighborhood Effect? Internet Use, Neighborhoods, and Mental Health among Older Adults in Shanghai.

Internet use may reduce the impact of the neighborhood on residents' well-being by helping people utilize resources beyond their immediate neighborhoods or strengthen neighborhood influences by widening the digital divide across neighborhoods. This study investigates how internet use moderates neighborhood effects on mental health among older adults in Shanghai. Using data from the Shanghai Urban Neighborhood Survey (SUNS) and population census, hierarchical linear models reveal that older adults who more frequently use the internet report lower levels of mental distress. Internet use attenuates the negative effects of living in low-socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods. We also examine the roles of three types of internet use: social networking, leisure, and information seeking. The results show that only social networking and leisure internet use are significantly associated with improved mental health among older adults. The results suggest that social programs are needed to increase internet literacy among older adults to promote active aging, and priority should be given to relatively disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Social media use and information seeking behaviour of library and information science (LIS) undergraduates in Southwestern Nigeria

Information seeking behavior is considered very important as it entails how people interact with information, in particular, the ways in which they seek and utilize information. Studies have however shown that some people including students do not seek information appropriately. Several factors, one of which include social media use, have been suggested to be responsible for this. This study therefore examined social media use, and information seeking behaviour of library and information science (LIS) undergraduates in southwestern Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design of the correlational type was adopted for this study. The population consisted of 463 LIS undergraduates in three universities in Southwestern Nigeria. Stratified random sampling technique was used to arrive at the sample size of 277. Data was collected with the aid of questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics such as Pearson Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used in presenting the data. The findings of the study revealed that the most used social media platforms by LIS undergraduates were WhatsApp ( ̅ ), Facebook ( ̅ , YouTube ( ̅ and Instagram ( ̅ .Most of the LIS undergraduates 218 (87.6%) and 122 (49.0%) revealed that they made use of WhatsApp and Facebook on a daily basis. Majority of the respondents used the social media for information dissemination ( ̅ , communication ( ̅ , and assignment completion ( ̅ . The most prominent information sources used by the respondents were online databases ( ̅ . Majority of the LIS undergraduates sought information to be outstanding academically ( ̅ . Most of the respondents accessed the needed information on the Internet through their smart phones ( ̅ . The major factor affecting information seeking by majority of the respondents was slow internet connectivity ( ̅ .the study also revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between social media use and information seeking behaviour (r = .342, p< 0.05). The study concluded that social media use is critical to information seeking behaviour in this digital era, and therefore recommended that lecturers in the library schools should create social media groups in which all the students will be encouraged to join and marks awarded for level of interaction and participation.

Sosyal Medya Kullanımının Arkasındaki Güdüler: Teorik Bir Değerlendirme

Purpose – The present study aims to explore the motives behind social media (SM) use. Methodology/Approach/Design- The prominent studies on social media use have been examined theoretically, classified in detail regarding SM types, and inferences have been made. In this context, the study is a literature review. Findings- The most emphasized SM sites in the lit-erature are Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn and YouTube. SM networking sites have usage differences depending on users’ age and purpose. Motives behind the SM use are mostly explained by the uses and gratification ap-proach. The most emphasized motives in SM use are social interaction, entertainment and infor-mation seeking. Finally, the effects of social mo-tives are higher than individual motives in social media use. Originality/Value- With this study, it is expected to contribute to the field by drawing a profile on SM use and increasing the knowledge about the motives that push individuals to use SM.

Social capital and health information seeking in China

BackgroundPeople’s potentials to seek health information can be affected by their social context, such as their social networks and the resources provided through those social networks. In the past decades, the concept of social capital has been widely used in the health realm to indicate people’s social context. However, not many such studies were conducted in China. Chinese society has its special quality that many Western societies lack: people traditionally render strong value to family relations and rely heavily on strong social ties in their social life. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between different types of social capital and health information-seeking behavior (HISB) in the Chinese context. The different types of social capital were primarily bonding and bridging, as well as cognitive and structural ones.MethodsOur analysis is based on a total of 3090 cases taken from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) – China, 2017. Dataset was weighted due to the overrepresentation of female respondents and hierarchical multiple regression analyses as well as binary logistic regression tests were operated to examine the associations between people’s social capital and their HISB.ResultsSome aspects of social capital emerged as positive predictors of HISB: information support (standing in for the cognitive component of social capital) promoted health information seeking, organization memberships (standing in for the structural component) encouraged cancer information seeking, and both the use of the internet and of traditional media for gaining health information were positively linked with bridging networks and organization memberships. Bonding networks (structural component) were not correlated with any other of the key variables and emotional support (cognitive social capital) was consistently associated with all health information-seeking indicators negatively.ConclusionsSocial capital demonstrated significant and complex relationships with HISB in China. Structural social capital generally encouraged HISB in China, especially the bridging aspects including bridging networks and organization memberships. On the other hand, emotional support as cognitive social capital damaged people’s initiatives in seeking health-related information.

0047 Relationship of Emotions, Social Isolation, and COVID-Related Media to Subjective Sleep Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic safety restrictions led to changes in social interactions and information seeking about the virus. For some, these led to increased negative emotions, feelings of social isolation, and increased COVID-related media consumption. We examined the relationship of these variables to subjective sleep quality from participant daily diaries kept early in the pandemic. Methods From April 20th-May 12th, 2020, college (students, faculty/staff, alumni, parents) and local (churches, community centers, libraries) community members (N=94, 72 women, ages 18-77) completed a 30-minute survey for before and during social distancing (measuring: mental health, personality, social distancing, and demographics) for possible prizes. Participants then completed daily evening and morning diaries for 5-14 days describing daily affect, social isolation, emotion regulation, COVID media consumption, and subjective sleep quality. Results Emotions: During the pandemic, poor sleep quality was predicted by less positive mood (r(91)=.486, p<.001) and more negative mood (r(91)=-.433, p<.001). Participants with poorer sleep quality reported less success regulating their emotions that day (r(90)=.292, p=.005) and greater suppression of emotions (rather than cognitive reappraisals to regulate them) (r(91)=-.260, p=.012). Social Isolation: Subjective sleep quality was not predicted by social distancing behaviors (r(88)=.069, p>.05); however, poorer sleep quality was significantly predicted by greater daily feelings of social isolation (r(91)=-.264, p=.005) and lower feelings of social life satisfaction (r(91)=.338, p<.001). COVID-related media: Sleep quality was not significantly related to COVID-media consumption for all participants; however, moderation analyses showed that participants with low avoidance coping, low neuroticism, and high emotional well-being did experience poorer sleep quality associated with greater COVID media consumption (all p’s<.05). Conclusion That mood and social isolation are associated with sleep quality replicates previous findings. The pandemic, however, provided a unique opportunity to observe these relationships in individuals not normally socially isolated because of confounding variables (e.g., health issues, depression, anxiety) with known relationships to sleep quality. That COVID-related media was only related to sleep quality for more well-adjusted participants (low avoidance coping, low neuroticism, high emotional well-being) was surprising, suggesting some may find COVID-19 information anxiety-relieving rather than anxiety-provoking. Support (If Any) Nancy and Craig Wood Odyssey Professorship and Charles L. Brewer Endowed Fund

Towards a model of social commerce: improving the effectiveness of e-commerce through leveraging social media tools based on consumers’ dual roles

ABSTRACT Social media has been integrated into traditional e-commerce, creating an innovative technology-based approach to changing business practice and service, yet few researchers have attempted to provide an understanding of how this approach is changing consumer decision-making and purchase behaviours. Combining the expectation-confirmation theory and the expectation-confirmation model and information systems continuance, we propose a model for social commerce, illustrating how social media is utilised in online shopping as a three-fold process (pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase stages) from a consumer perspective. The model consists of three phases: social commerce motivation, social commerce adoption, and e-commerce effectiveness. Using two rounds of surveys, we find that (1) autonomous motivation and controlled motivation have positive effects on social commerce information seeking and sharing, and (2) social commerce information seeking formulates consumers’ pre-purchase decisions, thus affecting their actual purchase outcomes, repurchase intentions, and social commerce information-sharing intentions in the post-purchase stage. In addition, our study indicates that consumers may play dual roles in social commerce: as information seekers in the pre-purchase stage and as information providers in the post-purchase stage. Our findings have important implications for literature and practice.