My favorite unreliable source? Information sharing and acquisition through informal networks

Abstract

Informal information networks are the personal connections of friends, family and colleagues that people use to help them find information. Recently, a great deal of attention has been paid to social network sites, and other social media, as a key source of information and misinformation in contemporary society. This panel will probe deeper, to investigate the personal connections that underpin and lie behind the social connections visible on social network sites. This issue is of increasing importance as more of our everyday lives are moved online. We will debate what we actually know, and do not know, about how people find information through others, both on‐ and off‐line. From the panel we hope to create a network of scholars interested in creating a research agenda to make informal networks a focus of study going forward.

Information Intermediaries and Information Resilience: Working to Support Marginalised Groups

“…Information sharing between colleagues is key for many workers to find the workplace information they need (e.g., Cross & Sproul, 2004; Willson, 2019). When working alone at home, accessing informal networks (e.g., Willson et al, 2020) and encountering information (Erdelez & Marki, 2020) become much more difficult. COVID‐19 highlighted vulnerabilities in information sharing and management that were previously taken for granted, demonstrating how susceptible to disruption services can be.…”

“…While some research has focused on the information resilience of marginalised individuals experiencing disruption, for example, the life transitions of refugees (Lloyd, 2015), the professional information resilience of the intermediaries with whom such populations interact remains largely unexamined. Willson et al (2020) recognise the importance of informal networks to the information access of marginalised groups and those who experience information poverty or lack information capital, the capacity to access information (Counts & Fisher, 2010). Informal networks lack a structure or purpose; they are “a loose connection of individuals who regularly interact with one another, who may or may not share interests” (Willson et al 2020, p. 1).…”

“…Willson et al (2020) recognise the importance of informal networks to the information access of marginalised groups and those who experience information poverty or lack information capital, the capacity to access information (Counts & Fisher, 2010). Informal networks lack a structure or purpose; they are “a loose connection of individuals who regularly interact with one another, who may or may not share interests” (Willson et al 2020, p. 1). Despite recent research on informal networks, the information science community has yet to develop a systematic understanding of the phenomenon among marginalised groups nor an understanding of the role of such networks in interactions between those groups and information intermediaries.…”