Information Behavior, Information Overload, and Digital Well-Being During Crisis

EasyChair Preprint 11744

Abstract

On October 7^th, the Hamas terrorist organization invaded Israel, massacring and attacking civilians in Southern Israel. In response, the Israeli government declared a state of war. People in Israel sought information about the war to stay updated on real-time events. The current study aims to examine the consequences of information-seeking behavior and information overload of Israeli citizens during the war on their digital well-being. The study uses a qualitative approach, with 25 Israeli interviewees. The study's theoretical framework is based on Büchi's Digital well-being frame. The main findings present three users' profiles a) Information overload managers: Individuals who feel overwhelmed by information, leading them to limit their news consumption and balance their digital well-being. b) Multi-App news seekers: Users who actively employ multiple apps to access the most updated news from a wide range of sources, effectively managing their digital well-being. c) Information avoiders: Those who actively avoid information to protect their digital well-being. Meanwhile, individuals who passively avoid may experience anxiety.

Keyphrases: Information Anxiety, digital well-being, information avoidance, information overload, information seeking behavior

@booklet{EasyChair:11744,
  author    = {Ayelet Ayalon and Noa Aharony},
  title     = {Information Behavior, Information Overload, and Digital Well-Being During Crisis},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 11744},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2024}}