Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use

Based on the interviews of 18 participants, the ways in which people talk about their source preferences with regard to the Internet in everyday life information seeking were investigated by using discourse analysis. Three major interpretative repertoires were identified: Enthusiastic, Realistic and...

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Main Author: Reijo Savolainen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Borås 2004-01-01
Series:Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://informationr.net/ir/10-1/paper198.html
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author Reijo Savolainen
author_facet Reijo Savolainen
author_sort Reijo Savolainen
collection DOAJ
description Based on the interviews of 18 participants, the ways in which people talk about their source preferences with regard to the Internet in everyday life information seeking were investigated by using discourse analysis. Three major interpretative repertoires were identified: Enthusiastic, Realistic and Critical. The Enthusiastic repertoire emphasizes the strengths of the Internet, conceiving it as a 'great enabler' or as a 'technology of freedom'. In this repertoire, positive expressions such as fast, easy and interactive are favoured. In the Realistic repertoire, the source preferences are constructed as situation-bound choices. The Internet is given no absolute priority but its value is seen to depend on the relative advantages in specific situations. No sources or channels are superior by themselves but their value is contingent on the use situation and its specific requirements. Finally, the Critical repertoire is characterized by a reserved standpoint to the advantages brought by the Internet. Central to this repertoire is the critical view on the low amount of relevant informationavailable in the Internet and the poor organization of networked information, rendering effective information seeking difficult. Due to their ideal-typical nature, the above repertoires are rather independent. However, in the everyday discursive practices, the repertoires are used alternately, and the same speaker may shift from one repertoire to another within the same account.
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spelling doaj-art-b2ca43a0c38f408da3353fde1aa586082025-02-02T08:58:01ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132004-01-01101198Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, UseReijo SavolainenBased on the interviews of 18 participants, the ways in which people talk about their source preferences with regard to the Internet in everyday life information seeking were investigated by using discourse analysis. Three major interpretative repertoires were identified: Enthusiastic, Realistic and Critical. The Enthusiastic repertoire emphasizes the strengths of the Internet, conceiving it as a 'great enabler' or as a 'technology of freedom'. In this repertoire, positive expressions such as fast, easy and interactive are favoured. In the Realistic repertoire, the source preferences are constructed as situation-bound choices. The Internet is given no absolute priority but its value is seen to depend on the relative advantages in specific situations. No sources or channels are superior by themselves but their value is contingent on the use situation and its specific requirements. Finally, the Critical repertoire is characterized by a reserved standpoint to the advantages brought by the Internet. Central to this repertoire is the critical view on the low amount of relevant informationavailable in the Internet and the poor organization of networked information, rendering effective information seeking difficult. Due to their ideal-typical nature, the above repertoires are rather independent. However, in the everyday discursive practices, the repertoires are used alternately, and the same speaker may shift from one repertoire to another within the same account.http://informationr.net/ir/10-1/paper198.htmlInternetEveryday lifeInformation seekingDiscourse analysisInterpretative repertoiresInformation sourcesValueUse
spellingShingle Reijo Savolainen
Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Internet
Everyday life
Information seeking
Discourse analysis
Interpretative repertoires
Information sources
Value
Use
title Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use
title_full Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use
title_fullStr Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use
title_full_unstemmed Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use
title_short Enthusiastic, realistic and critical: discourses of Internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking Internet, Everyday life, Information seeking, Discourse analysis, Interpretative repertoires, Information sources, Value, Use
title_sort enthusiastic realistic and critical discourses of internet use in the context of everyday life information seeking internet everyday life information seeking discourse analysis interpretative repertoires information sources value use
topic Internet
Everyday life
Information seeking
Discourse analysis
Interpretative repertoires
Information sources
Value
Use
url http://informationr.net/ir/10-1/paper198.html
work_keys_str_mv AT reijosavolainen enthusiasticrealisticandcriticaldiscoursesofinternetuseinthecontextofeverydaylifeinformationseekinginterneteverydaylifeinformationseekingdiscourseanalysisinterpretativerepertoiresinformationsourcesvalueuse