small world Archives · Digital Sunshine Solutions

Small worlds give us social structure and help us make sense of how we fit into the greater society. But sometimes they can also prevent important change from happening by narrowing our world view. Let's dig into some theories of information seeking behavior to see if there are patterns we can optimize to ensure that lasting social change finally comes. Digital Literacy Relies on Information Seeking Behavior Digital Literacy is more important than ever in light of the enormous societal change to which we currently bear witness. However, it is becoming harder and harder to parse the information that is coming our way, let alone evaluate its relevance, because of the sheer volume of information. This article by Sonja Blignaut: Resist the Urge to Simplify Stories discusses how h...

This week in Blog Redux: can small world theory explain polarization? This week I’m reviving an old post from blog.ginaminks.com from July 10, 2010. The post was titled How information needs and small world signatures are related to affinity and relevance. Ahh the good ole days when we didn't have to worry about SEO and we could just write to communicate! This blog post was based on my undergrad degree, in particular the work of Elfreda Chatman. Unfortunately she passed away very unexpectedly soon after I graduated. I wish she were around to know how much she impacted my work, and so I could work with her now. As always, I’ll re-post the blog in its entirety here, and add my comments as a quote that start with Thoughts from 2020. How information needs and small world signatures...