Catherine Johnson looked at the information seeking behavior of residents of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. See "Choosing people: The role of social capital in information seeking behaviour," Information Research, Vol 10, no. 1. As my daughter, Katie Ives, was in rural Mongolia in the Peace Corps, I am always interested in stuff form there.
Catherine Johnson recently shared this summary of the work in an email group. She found that social capital had a significant effect on whether people chose to consult other people, organizations (including libraries, health or government offices) or media sources to help resolve their information problems. People with better social capital consulted other people or organizations, while those with poorer social capital chose media sources (newspapers, television, radio and some Internet). The media sources, that also do not have any human help aspect, were the least useful source of information. She also found that when people chose other people in their search for new information they tended to choose their weak ties over more strongly connected members of their social networks.
Ken Leslie found a similar situation a he developed the uvScene, a blog designed to build community in the Upper Valley area on the New Hampshire and Vermont border around Dartmouth College. Ken has enlisted a group of others to help with this blog that covers community and social events. They make extensive use of pictures. Underlying Ken’s work is the belief in the value of increasing social capital for increasing community health. Ken has found that the many connections that are developing in this community enrich everyone and extend the possibilities for mutual support. For example, Ken says that he does not need a formal road side assistance program for his car like AAA in case it breaks down because he now has so many friends he can call on for help.
Blogs can be one way to build social capital in a community and create the useful weak ties that provide context for information searches. I am more likley to trust a local blog than a local guide on stuff to do in an area if I have developed a sense of trust in the blogger's knowledge.
As a person sharing his opinion in the Blog world i wouldn't be surprised you think that way. Perhaps you're a little biased. Nevertheless, i see where you're coming from with this perspective.
Posted by: records management | December 27, 2010 at 12:22 PM