Information Tactics of Immigrants in Urban Environments

Introduction. This project seeks to contribute to research on everyday human information behaviour by addressing the information practices of immigrants (here called migrational individuals) engaged in learning about new urban environments.Method. Two qualitative approaches are used: semi-structured, in-depth interviews and participatory mapping (a methodology involving analysis of maps produced by interviewees). The twelve participants interviewed in this project were migrational individuals recruited from an English language learning and acculturation centre in New York, NY.Analysis. Using Certeau\u27s construct of tactics as a theoretical frame, interviews were transcribed and coded with NVIVO software. Analysis focused on practices used by migrational individuals in order to become familiar with New York, sources of surprise and instances of being lost in the city, and technologies and resources that were (or were not) useful in learning about daily life as a recent arrival to an urban environment.Results. Main findings from analysis of interviews include: a detailed account of multiple information resources used in everyday life information seeking, the extent to which personal narrative and biography (such as work history) shapes interpretations of surroundings, and the deliberate use of wandering to become familiar with new environments. These findings are theorized in terms of everyday life information seeking. The term information tactics is suggested as particularly salient for understanding daily practices of navigating unfamiliar city space.Conclusions. Through discussion of migrational individuals\u27 information practices, possible developments for public libraries and acculturation programmes seeking to provide improved services for the immigrant community are suggested. With both practical and theoretical implications, this project provides in-depth perspectives on an understudied group within library and information science research

The Case for Many Internets

Internet studies research often concentrates on mainstream platforms, practices, and users at the expense of people and technologies at the margin. This article introduces a collection of essays that addresses the gap in research, taking a number of different approaches. Indeed, arguing for a diverse and multi-faceted understanding of digital technologies can take a number of forms, including studying platforms that are incredibly common yet rarely investigated, looking at practices that fall outside the scope of mainstream communication research, and investigating communities that are non-Western, non-urban, and/or non-heteronormative. Research in these areas is crucial in developing a broader understanding of online platforms, and for expanding theoretical frameworks related to technology, media, and communication

A Queer and Feminist Defense of Being Anonymous Online

From the earliest days of digital communities, online abuse has been connected to anonymity. While concerns around the impact of anonymity, particularly for women, people of color and LGBTQ folks, is legitimate, this paper argues that a flat rejection of digital anonymity is problematic, foreclosing certain forms of queer and feminist praxis. To make this case, I turn to the platform politics of Craigslist. Using Craigslist as a case study, I discuss the persistent stigma attached to online anonymity, before addressing specific tactics of online anonymity associated with queer and feminist values of privacy and mutual aid. Drawing on accounts of Craigslist users who saw anonymity as a protective form of control over their personal information, I outline ways in which anonymity is not solely an enabler for misogyny and homophobia, and can instead (or rather, also) be a subversive tool for self-expression and intimacy

Adjusting The Borders: Bisexual Passing And Queer Theory

Fluidity is a term sometimes used in reference to bisexual identity, thus positioning sexuality as an adaptive, evolving set of behaviors performed to constitute alternately straightness or queerness. Part of the speciousness of using fluidity to describe bisexuality centers on the implication that heterosexuality and homosexuality occupy opposite ends of a psychological spectrum, leaving bisexuality vaguely straddling poles of identity, without specificity or intent. This article is predominantly concerned with the notion of intentionality in bisexual behavior and whether or not deliberate choices are made to participate in communities that identify as either straight or queer. Rather than framing this investigation in terms of whether or not sexuality itself is a choice, this article compares bisexuals who alternately engage in straight or queer practices in the context of passing, as when a person presents herself as an alternate race. Using personal narratives, theoretical works from Judith Butler, bell hooks and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and drawing on descriptions of racial passing, I am interested in crafting psychological profiles of women who routinely perform their sexualities differently as part of belonging to and identifying with distinct communities of queerness and straightness

Networked Field Studies: Comparative Inquiry and Online Communities

In this article, I articulate a methodology for comparative qualitative analysis of online communities, which I refer to as networked field studies. I describe networked field studies as an approach that allows for looking across multiple communities and field sites to build a coherent set of analytical claims about the role of technology and everyday life, drawing on my own research investigating relationships to digital technologies among three countercultural communities. The major aim of this article is to contribute to methodological discussions on comparative qualitative analysis within Internet studies, foregrounding how research on digital technologies can both benefit from and complicate a comparative approach. After a brief summary of the communities studied in the research that has given rise to this methodological approach, I outline key methodological concepts and address the strengths and limitations of networked field studies as a method for analyzing socio-technical practices in everyday life

The Digital Remains: Social Media and Practices of Online Grief

This article analyzes comments posted in response to articles and blog posts discussing Facebook\u27s policies on the pages of deceased site members. These virtual discourses reflect the sociocultural importance of social media policies in everyday life that is increasingly a blend of online and offline interaction. The analysis reveals themes of contested ownership of online identities, resistance to unilateral institutional policies, and social media site users’ complex relationship to the preservation of virtual content. As a still-evolving phenomenon, virtual grief elucidates wider cultural trends at work in the construction of identity and community online

The Value of Community Ethnography in Public Library Crisis Preparation

In this brief article, I address the usefulness of including community-driven interviews into preparations for disasters. Drawing on Shera’s (1970) highly influential construction of library work as tied to communication, I analyze responses of three library organizations–the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and the New Jersey Library Association–immediately following Hurricane Sandy. I then turn to a specific role of communication that libraries can offer surrounding communities, providing resources for local community members to conduct interviews among those who have experienced a disaster. By incorporating this kind of responsibility to communicate experiences of a crisis to a wider audience, libraries fulfill an important part of Shera’s charge to reflect the local values and norms of surrounding communities