Following the “community” thread from sociology to information behavior and informatics: Uncovering theoretical continuities and research opportunities

Abstract

The authors review five paradigms from the discipline of community sociology (functionalism, evolution, conflict, interactionism, and exchange) to assess their potential utility for understanding everyday life information behavior and technology use.Their analysis considers the ways in which each paradigm defines the concepts of community, information, and technology. It also explores the insights offered by each paradigm regarding relationships between community and both information and technology. Accordingly, the authors highlight the ways in which existing information behavior and informatics scholarship draws from similar conceptual roots. Key insights drawn from this research, as well as remaining gaps and research questions, are examined. Additionally, they consider the limitations of each approach. The authors conclude by arguing for the value of a vigorous research program regarding information behavior and technology use in communities, particularly that which takes the community as the central unit of analysis. They consider key questions that could drive such a research program, as well as potentially fruitful conceptual and methodological approaches for this endeavor.

How "Community" Matters for How People Interact With Information: Mixed Methods Study of Young Men Who Have Sex With Other Men

“…Moreover, this is one of the first studies to highlight information sharing as a potentially important form of community-embedded HII. Such confirmation and extension help answer calls for increased insight into information production, acquisition, and use in everyday life [1,4,68]. Moreover, this model suggests potential bases for community-level interventions.…”

“…A host of research approaches have shed light on this social character, from interactionism to network analysis [1]. This socially oriented research has provided several valuable insights regarding HII in human communities, including the possibility of information technology (IT) use to establish and reinforce community identities, and the potential of IT deployed in geographic communities to shift the nature and extent of ties between residents [1]. We have also learned that the situational relevance of information varies by community, leading to selective information acceptance in different groups [2].…”

“…Additionally, Chatman’s “Theory of Information Poverty” tells us that social costs associated with seeking certain forms of information within a community may result in information avoidance [2,3]. Despite these observations, we lack a systematic portrait of the relationship between people’s everyday community involvements and their HII, including how important community involvement might be in the emergence of these patterns [1,4]. Moreover, there has been little dialogue between the fields of community informatics and health informatics, despite growing interest in embedding social influence in consumer health informatics (CHI) applications [5].…”

“…Furthermore, knowing a PHA may give rise to more “network-mediated opportunities”—socially comfortable opportunities for asking questions about HIV/AIDS [27]. Prior research conducted in rural Canada also shows that higher levels of HIV/AIDS-related expertise and resources in a community may predict information acquisition success among its members [1]. Therefore, we hypothesize that:…”

Power, Knowledge, and Community

“…In addition, Veinot and Williams () follow the tread of existing information behavior and informatics scholarship to provide an insightful methodological approach for the research on everyday life information behavior. They use the community as the major unit of analysis, and empirically analyze social interactions instead of discourse (Veinot and Williams, , pp. 854–55).…”