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Have stakeholders increased their influence over firms' behavior in the digital age? In a recent article in this journal, Barnett, Henriques, and Husted (2020) suggested that, contrary to expectations, digital media has limited the influence of stakeholders on firms as information overload and heterogeneous demands make it difficult for stakeholders to synchronize their interests and achieve one coherent and persistent voice. In this exchange we contend that, while the evolution of digital media has made it harder for stakeholders to achieve synchronicity, it has made it easier for them to achieve what we refer to as heterogeneous convergence. Heterogeneous convergence entails the progressive coming together of heterogeneous stakeholders around a broader demand for change while maintaining different identities and views. We argue that, through heterogeneous convergence, secondary stakeholders can exert strong pressure over firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Sharing of misinformation on social media platforms is a global concern, with research offering little insight into the motives behind such sharing. Drawing from the cognitive load theory and literature on cognitive ability, we developed and tested a research model hypothesising why people share misinformation. We also tested the moderating role of cognitive ability. We obtained data from 385 social media users in Nigeria using a chain referral technique with an online questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Our findings suggest that information overload and social media fatigue are strong predictors of misinformation sharing. Information stress also contributed to misinformation sharing behaviour. Furthermore, cognitive ability moderated and weakened the effect information strain and information overload have on misinformation sharing in such a way that this effect is more pronounced among those with low cognitive ability. This indicates that those with low cognitive ability have a higher tendency to share misinformation. However, cognitive ability had no effect on the effect social media fatigue has on misinformation sharing behaviour. The study concluded with some theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how the interplay of stressor (e.g. fear of missing out, FoMO) and strains (e.g. perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) in social networking sites (SNS) use can contribute to users' SNS fatigue from a configurational view. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected among 363 SNS users in China via an online survey, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied in this study to scrutinize the different combinations of FoMO and overload that contribute to the same outcome of SNS fatigue. Findings: Six combinations of casual conditions were identified to underlie SNS fatigue. The results showed that FoMO, perceived information overload and system feature overload are the core conditions that contribute to SNS fatigue when combined with other types of overloads. Originality/value: The current work supplements the research findings on SNS fatigue by identifying the configurations contributing to SNS fatigue from the joint effects of stressor (FoMO) and strain (perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) and by providing explanations for SNS fatigue from the configurational perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDrawing on the dual system theory, a configuration model for cyberchondria was proposed to explore the complex interplay between the individual characteristics, socioemotional system, and cognitive control system in causing cyberchondria. A questionnaire was distributed to users who have searched for health information on social media platforms. A total of 320 valid responses were collected. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method was employed to analyse the data. Four equifinal configurations leading to cyberchondria were identified, with fear of missing out, perceived information overload, and perceived communication overload as core conditions. Additionally, one configuration leading to the absence of cyberchondria was identified. We further explored the configurations for the four sub-dimensions of cyberchondria. The results revealed four configurations for excessiveness, two for distress, one for compulsion, and three for reassurance. Four theoretical propositions leading to cyberchondria and its sub-dimensions are proposed. This provides a dual system perspective into how fear of missing out can evolve into cyberchondria and explains the complexities of cyberchondria between different individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High dropout rates and low pass rates are prevalent problems encountered by online learning platforms, which greatly hinder the development of online education. Drawing upon the theory of attention allocation, this study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the effectiveness of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), as well as the potential moderating effects. To address the limitation of using course completion rates as an overall measurement, this study endeavours to measure MOOCs learning effectiveness by examining dropout rates and pass rates as separate outcome indicators. We use secondary data analysis to investigate our research questions. Specifically, we collect 8602 courses from a Chinese MOOC platform (Zhihuishu) using data‐crawling techniques, and employ regression analyses to examine our research hypotheses. The findings indicate that course quality, content richness and interactivity significantly influence course dropout rates and pass rates. Besides, content richness moderates the relationship between course quality and learning effectiveness. Furthermore, frequent online interaction is associated with lower pass rates in high‐quality courses, but the moderating effect of online interaction on dropout rates is insignificant. This study contributes to the extant literature by examining course‐level factors that affect learning effectiveness. It also offers new theoretical insights and provides valuable suggestions for the design of MOOCs. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Attention is a scarce resource, and the concentration level greatly influences one's academic performance. Excessive online interaction may cause distractions and hinder learning outcomes. Information overload can result in anxiety and negative emotions, thereby reducing one's willingness to continue learning. In addition, information overload may reduce perceived usefulness and negatively affect academic performance. High dropout rates and low pass rates are common problems encountered by MOOCs today, hindering the development of online education. What this paper adds This study investigates the effect of course quality, content richness and interactivity on course dropout rates and pass rates. Content richness moderates the relationship between course quality and course dropout rates / pass rates. Courses with more content have higher dropout rates and lower pass rates, particularly for high‐quality courses. Online interaction moderates the relationship between course quality and the pass rates. More frequent online interaction is associated with lower pass rates for high‐quality courses. Implications for practice and/or policy The improvement of course quality can contribute to lower dropout rates and higher pass rates, thereby fostering the healthy growth of online education. When evaluating high‐quality courses, not only the depth of course content but also the integration of resources should be considered. High‐quality online courses should carefully regulate the number of videos and manage online learning resources. In addition, it is recommended that course designers consolidate essential video resources and ensure the effective and appropriate structure of course content. High‐quality online courses should restrict the frequency of online interaction. Additionally, these courses should strategically help learners allocate their attention, with a particular emphasis on prioritizing the course video content. What is already known about this topic Attention is a scarce resource, and the concentration level greatly influences one's academic performance. Excessive online interaction may cause distractions and hinder learning outcomes. Information overload can result in anxiety and negative emotions, thereby reducing one's willingness to continue learning. In addition, information overload may reduce perceived usefulness and negatively affect academic performance. High dropout rates and low pass rates are common problems encountered by MOOCs today, hindering the development of online education. What this paper adds This study investigates the effect of course quality, content richness and interactivity on course dropout rates and pass rates. Content richness moderates the relationship between course quality and course dropout rates / pass rates. Courses with more content have higher dropout rates and lower pass rates, particularly for high‐quality courses. Online interaction moderates the relationship between course quality and the pass rates. More frequent online interaction is associated with lower pass rates for high‐quality courses. Implications for practice and/or policy The improvement of course quality can contribute to lower dropout rates and higher pass rates, thereby fostering the healthy growth of online education. When evaluating high‐quality courses, not only the depth of course content but also the integration of resources should be considered. High‐quality online courses should carefully regulate the number of videos and manage online learning resources. In addition, it is recommended that course designers consolidate essential video resources and ensure the effective and appropriate structure of course content. High‐quality online courses should restrict the frequency of online interaction. Additionally, these courses should strategically help learners allocate their attention, with a particular emphasis on prioritizing the course video content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, higher education institutions increasingly rely on e-learning systems. Indeed, the higher education market has become increasingly competitive with the addition of open education models. However, the abundance of accessible online courses makes it challenging to deliver education that meets student needs. Learners have diverse profiles based on their traits, motivations, prior knowledge, and learning preferences. Recently, much research has given attention to the importance of using the contextual parameters to perform more accurate recommendations. In this context, context-aware recommendation of pedagogical resources can deal with the issue of information overload, cold start problem and meeting the learner's preferences. This paper describes a context-aware recommender system that harness the learner's contextual information. Our proposed approach is called Context Embedding Deep Collaborative Filtering (CEDCF), which enriches the learner profile with extracted sentiments from previous interactions. The proposed approach comprises three models, called Generalized Matrix Factorzation (GMF) , Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Neural Matrix Factorization (NeuMF). The GMF and the MLP are respectively applied to the rating matrix and the contextual parameters. The outputs of these models are then fed into a neural network to perform rating prediction. To put our proposal into shape, we model a real-world application of a merged coursera dataset to recommend courses. The experimental evaluation shows relevant results attesting the efficiency of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The widespread use of Internet has accelerated the explosive growth of data, which in turn leads to information overload and information confusion. This makes it difficult for us to communicate effectively in social groups, thereby intensifying the demands for emotional companionship. Therefore, we propose a novel social group chatting framework based on Large Language Model (LLM) powered multiple autonomous agents collaboration in this article. Specifically, BERTopic is used to extract topics from history chatting content for each social group everyday, and then multiple topics tracking is realised through multi‐level association by adaptive time sliding‐window mechanism and optimal matching. Furthermore, we use topic tracking architecture and prompts to design and implement an AI Chatbot system with different characters that can conduct natural language conversations with users in online social group. LLM, as the controller and coordinator of the whole AI Chatbot for sub‐tasks, allows different AI Agents to autonomously decide whether to participate in current topic, how to generate response, and whether to propose a new topic. Each AI Agent has their own multi‐store memory system based on the Atkinson‐Shiffrin model. Finally, we construct a verification environment based on online game that is consistent with real society. Subjective and objective evaluation methods were deployed to perform qualitative and quantitative analyses to demonstrate the performance of our AI Chatbot system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of SNS users' perceived information overload on SNS fatigue and mental health, highlighting the influence of users' attachment styles. Also, the mediating role of SNS fatigue in the association between perceived information overload and mental health was investigated. Using data from a national sample in South Korea (N = 635), the study found that those in the secure style (n = 216) and the dismissing style (n = 134) showed low levels of perceived information overload and SNS fatigue than those in the preoccupied style (n = 143) and the fearful style (n = 160). These results uncovered that the anxiety dimension of attachment styles was the differentiating factor for the variables in the study. Moreover, the study supported the mediating role of SNS fatigue in the three attachments styles except for the fearful style. Theoretical implications and contributions of the study were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates how and when the two first movers in knowledge-based regulation – the OECD and the World Bank – developed policy brokerage as an instrument of global governance in the education sector. We also examine how their target clientele – national governments – responds to this instrument. Given the surplus of research evidence in today's digital economy, intergovernmental organisations have the challenge of standing out as trusted and credible knowledge brokers in a crowded space. The authors make the case for a comparative research programme – tentatively labeled 'Governance by Numbers 2.0' – that is informed by a multidisciplinary (history, political science, interdisciplinary policy studies) interpretive framework and that advances a transnational, relational method of inquiry which draws attention to the global/national nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study constructed an information search process model based on costs and benefits to reflect different information search processes under different decisions from a behavioural economics perspective. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a deductive approach to conceptualise the costs, benefits, and uncertainties of the information search process. Subsequently, we constructed an information search process model based on the costs and benefits using graphical reasoning, loss aversion theory, bounded rationality theory, the satisficing theory of behavioural economics, and the uncertainty changes of information search process. Findings: The model revealed four types of user behaviours in the information search process: (1) avoiding search at the initiation of the search process; (2) exiting in the middle of a search; (3) stopping at the point of satisficing; and (4) continuing the search until experiencing physical discomfort. Originality/value: The model constructed in this study treats the information search as a process based on costs and benefits with uncertainty. This model integrates information search avoidance and stopping into an information search process model. The model identifies users' bounded rationality by evaluating ideal and real situations. Moreover, the model explains relative and absolute information overloads and the area beyond the user's bounded rationality. These findings could help improve users' information literacy and optimise information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The complex phenomenon of engagement in the research draws upon the sociocultural theories and emphasizes the three interrelated dimensions: behavioral, emotional/affective, and cognitive. Student engagement in academic life is a key factor for student wellbeing, making it essential to address the issues related to student engagement to be able to foster overall academic success. The research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the academic environment including students' performance and their social and private lives. Methodology: In order to help young people prepare to become students, an analysis of student needs and experiences was carried out at three universities: the University of Stavanger (Norway), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), and the University of Iceland (Iceland). Focus group discussions were used to collect data about the students' experience entering university and what challenges first-year students faced before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 17 first-year (6 males and 11 females) who started their studies during COVID-19 lockdown and 16 second-year students (9 males and 7 females) who started theirs studies before COVID-19 participated in the focus groups discussions. The collected data consists of students' responses during the focus group discussions. The qualitative thematic content analysis was used to identify emergent themes and categories. Results: The results of the research indicate that students face several challenges when entering university: adapting to the academic environment and the student role, information overload, social relationships, communication, and self-esteem issues. Students who started their studies during the pandemic indicated different experiences and challenges in adapting to university life. Discussion: This research faced several constraints, including the limited sample size, the focus on only three universities in Northern Europe, and the reliance on self-reported data from the focus group interviews, which may not fully capture the diversity of student experiences. Despite these limitations, the research provides valuable insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student engagement and the unique challenges faced by newstudents during this period. The results of this research confirm the findings of previous research claiming that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic vary depending on the environment. Students need a variety of targeted and/or intensive support services to address their increased social, emotional, and academic needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the interplay between platform information push, consumer emotions, and purchase behavior in Macau's cross-border e-commerce context using PLS-ANN analysis and piecewise linear regression. The findings reveal nuanced effects of information push on pleasure and annoyance, with distinct patterns emerging at different levels. These emotional responses significantly influence purchase intentions and actual behavior. Pleasure has a positive impact, while annoyance negatively affects outcomes. To optimize consumer sentiment and drive sales, e-commerce platforms should strategically manage information content, presentation, and timing. Harnessing positive emotions, balancing information sufficiency and overload prevention, and fostering long-term emotional connections are crucial. Adapting push strategies to diverse market preferences is vital for cross-border success. The study expands affect-as-information and emotional contagion theories, offering actionable suggestions for precision marketing. Future research should explore additional emotive dimensions, individual differences, and contextual moderators to enrich the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous universities nationwide announced urgent implementation of closed campus management due to the epidemics of COVID-19 in Chinese universities since March 2022, and a large number of students were under quarantine. This study aims to explore how embodied experiences (i.e., centralized quarantine and self-quarantine) and mediated experiences (i.e., exposure to media sources, pandemic information overload, and online help seeking) influence the acquisition of learned helplessness during the campus epidemics among the Chinese university students, besides, how do these two types of experiences interact with each other to elicit learned helplessness is another interested research question. The data was collected nationwide via an online survey platform from March 22nd to April 16 2022 immediately after the outbreak of campus epidemics. A total of 1267 valid student samples were retained. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that embodied experience of centralized quarantine is positively related to learned helplessness. Mediated experience of information access from friends on social media and government official media as well as online help seeking are negatively related to learned helplessness. Information access from overseas media and pandemic information overload are positively related to learned helplessness. Besides, the interaction between self-quarantine and pandemic information overload is positively related to learned helplessness. Theoretical contributions and intervention strategies aimed at enhancing authoritative communication and managing information overload during public health crisis were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When parents are expected to play a significant role in the management of their children's health perioperatively, information overload for parents could have particularly detrimental consequences. Our study investigated information communication and overload in 380 parents of children undergoing any elective surgical procedure at our institution. Participants completed an online questionnaire and were asked to respond to a newly designed Information Overload scale based on a modified 5 item Cancer Information Overload Scale and an 8-item atrial fibrillation information overload scale. Nineteen respondents (5%) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. More than a quarter of respondents (n = 102, 27%) primarily spoke a language other than English at home. 56% of respondents (n = 211) indicated that neither themselves nor any of their children had undergone a similar surgery in the past. Most respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the majority of the 5-item Information Overload scale statements. University undergraduates had lower total information overload score on average (-1.63, p = 0.002). People who spoke a language other than English had higher total score on average (0.98, p<0.001). Semi-structured qualitative interviews including the BRIEF health literacy screening tool were conducted with 24 parents. 23 interviewees scored 17–20 points in the BRIEF health literacy screening tool, indicating they were able to read and comprehend patient education materials. Overall, parents were satisfied with the amount of information that they received. Very rarely did any parent complain of 'information overload'. Our results show that parents of children undergoing elective paediatric surgery are not suffering from information overload in general, but they do want more information on immediate and late postoperative recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding pandemic-related information overload and emerging adults' psychological responses amid the city-wide COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai, this research aims to investigate the underlying mechanism of how online information shapes risk perception and casts influence on individuals' psychological capital. Applying structural equation modeling to a cross-sectional study (N = 412), the researcher concludes a psychological mechanism that depicts the route through which information overload affects psychological well-being during the pandemic era. With perceived risk being examined separately on a personal and societal level, the study shows that personal risk perception indicates promising psychological capital while societal risk perception indicates the opposite. It is alerting that the increase in societal risk perception and awareness of collective suffering could potentially lead to hopelessness, pessimism, and low self-efficacy. Additionally, the study also sheds light on the promising function of emotion-coping behaviors, which serves as a psychological buffer between perceived risk and psychological capital, navigating individuals through sociopsychological uncertainties and hazardousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the stress coping theory, the present paper aims to investigate the influence of users' networking ability and profile control ability in mitigating the negativity of social media overload. This paper argues that in the social media context, instead of discontinuance, users tend to develop comprehensive strategies and practices to manage their social media usage. Via an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) study, five practices were identified, including continuous usage, reduced usage, setting adjustment, support seeking, and information avoidance. The results show that social media overload leads to both the perception of emotional exhaustion and disturbance handling while networking and profile control ability make users focus on disturbance handling. Besides, networking ability is found to weaken the relationship between social media overload and emotional exhaustion while profile control ability exaggerates that relationship. Finally, emotional exhaustion and disturbance handling both predict users' different social media management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has a longstanding tradition of alcohol consumption, yet excessive drinking poses significant health risks, particularly for individuals with cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension. While existing literature indicates that both health information scanning and seeking behaviors can impact health beliefs and actions, their effects on alcohol prevention remain understudied. Utilizing data from a national survey in China, this study investigates the influence of health information scanning and seeking on alcohol risk knowledge and the frequency of excessive drinking among hypertensive drinkers. Results demonstrate that both health information scanning (b = -.018, p < .05) and seeking (b = -.030, p < .001) are negatively associated with excessive alcohol consumption indirectly through heightened awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer. However, health information scanning is positively linked to excessive drinking directly (b = .203, p < .01). Additionally, cancer information overload positively moderates the relationship between awareness of alcohol as a cancer risk factor and excessive drinking (b = .148, p < .001). Hypertensive drinkers who experience lower levels of cancer information overload are more inclined to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. These findings underscore the different roles of health information scanning and seeking on alcohol control. It is important to implement interventions aimed at encouraging active information seeking and mitigating information overload. Educational programs should be promoted to help high-risk groups accurately understand the risk of excessive drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: User discontinuance on short-video platform has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Short-video discontinuance refers to reduced use, controlled use or suspended use of the short-video platform. In this study, we examined factors associated with discontinuance behavior on short-video platform. Design/methodology/approach: From the perspective of stressor–strain–outcome (SSO), we put forward a theoretical model integrating perceived information overload and perceived system feature overload (stressors), dissatisfaction (psychological strain), flow experience and regret to explain discontinuance behavior on short-video platform (behavioral outcome). We collected 482 survey data from Douyin users in China, and empirically examined the proposed research model via Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. Findings: Our results demonstrated that perceived system feature overload exerts a positive effect on perceived information overload. Perceived system feature overload has a stronger influence on dissatisfaction than perceived information overload. Regret increases user dissatisfaction, while flow experience decreases user dissatisfaction. We also discovered that dissatisfaction and regret have significant positive effects on discontinuance behavior. Interestingly, flow exerts no significant influence on discontinuance behavior. Originality/value: This study enriches the body of knowledge on social media discontinuance by revealing the interaction and effects of flow experience, dissatisfaction and regret on discontinuance. This study also extends the understanding on the complex role of flow experience in leading to social media discontinuance. Additionally, this study deepens the research on the interaction between perceived system feature overload and perceived information overload as well as their different influences on negative emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editorial discusses the exponential growth in scientific research publications, highlighting the challenges and opportunities it presents. The surge in publications is attributed to factors like the expansion of the global research community and the pressure to publish in academia. While the increase in research output can lead to more knowledge and discoveries, it also poses challenges such as information overload, concerns about research quality, and the need for new approaches to research evaluation. The editorial emphasizes the importance of adapting to the evolving research landscape to ensure genuine progress and quality academic research. [Extracted from the article]

Despite their ethical challenges, recommender systems (RS) are widely endorsed as a necessary solution to the problem of information overload. After clarifying how the harmful effects of information overload can be characterized in distinct ways, I explore the often overlooked potential benefits of abundant online spaces. I argue that these spaces afford valuable opportunities to experience spontaneous freedom. I then put forth a more comprehensive evaluation of the role RS should assume in algorithmically structuring the online space. This evaluation aims to reconcile the dual objectives of mitigating the harms of information overload and preserving opportunities to experience spontaneous freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has led to the dominance of COVID-19 prevention information on all media channels. Drawing on the ability–motivation model of information processing, this study examined how such an information overabundance hampered individuals' ability and motivation to process in the era of COVID-19. With a survey conducted from 493 participants, we found that less message elaboration of COVID-19 prevention information was predicted by greater message fatigue, a state of low motivation due to information overabundance. In addition, greater message fatigue was accompanied by greater information overload, a state of low ability due to information overabundance. Moreover, certain motivation-related (i.e. health status, trait reactance and frequency of information seeking) and ability–related factors (i.e. health literacy, health status, trait anxiety and information quality) were found to be associated with message fatigue and information overload, respectively. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, minority ethnic groups were reported to face the greatest risk from COVID-19. Yet, little is known about their perception and behaviour towards COVID-19 campaigns. This study used 35 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with minority ethnic adults aged 60 or over in England and Wales to explore their motivations for complying with or disregarding official guidance and their evaluations of various campaign content and channels used early in the pandemic. Using Template Analysis, key themes in the interviewees' discourse were identified, which were subsequently analysed using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This study found that the predominant motivations for non-compliant behaviour included fatigue from information overload, government- and socially-induced distrust, as well as self-reported personality traits. In contrast, compliant individuals emphasised community-based obligations and their trust in official communications. Although participants recognised the pandemic as a challenging time, they were generally unsatisfied with the credibility, consistency, and accessibility of public health messaging. This investigation contributes to health communications studies by adopting a qualitative approach and providing insights into an under-researched demographic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have long debated how radio broadcasts affected the dynamics of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, with some arguing that the radio was highly consequential, and others suggesting such effects have been overstated. This article contributes to these debates—as well as to debates regarding the role of old and new media in collective action—by examining whether and how Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (Radio RTLM) coverage was associated with two core aspects of the violence: (1) subnational onset of genocidal violence and (2) participation in genocidal violence across subnational spaces. Drawing on new data on Radio RTLM coverage, we find that areas with coverage were more likely to experience immediate onset of violence. However, our analysis of participation in the genocide—which uses more accurate measures of participation and of radio coverage than prior studies—finds no significant association between Radio RTLM coverage and subnational levels of participation. After illustrating that these results are robust to numerous model specifications, we theorize that information broadcast over the radio's airways contributed to the creation of a critical mass that initiated genocide in localized spaces. We conclude by considering the importance of understanding the role of media in the subnational onset of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is a hot research topic in intelligent transportation, and the research on new methods of intelligent data transmission is one of the key contents. Aiming at the application scenario of urban air quality monitoring data collection and transmission based on IoV, a new reliable data transmission method (Vehicular Grouping‐Communicated Data [VGCD]) based on crowd sensing strategy is proposed. This method is designed to utilize the intelligent perception and collaborative monitoring of vehicle to collect data, avoiding redundancy and overload of information; a reliable data transmission minimum delay hybrid routing method is proposed in the data transmission part, which combines encoding mechanism with routing design, integrates routing switching ideas, predicts vehicle adaptive connectivity based on fuzzy logic, and makes probability based routing decisions to minimize delay, achieving reliable and efficient data collection and transmission. The proposed new method has important theoretical significance and practical value for various applications such as dynamic remote perception monitoring based on the IoV in intelligent transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: It is largely acknowledged that arbitrating the flow of knowledge can help firms strategically leverage tacit and explicit internal knowledge. However, despite the apparent scholarly and managerial acceptance of the criticality of the flow of knowledge between various stakeholders, the academic understanding of knowledge arbitrage remains coarse-grained. There are practically no empirical insights available to unravel the consequences of firms' knowledge arbitrage choices regarding rewards and risks. This study aims to identify the risks that emerge as firms channel the flow of knowledge from surplus to deficit areas within organizational boundaries. To this end, the authors investigate several subsumed subprocesses in knowledge arbitrage to map the associated risks. Design/methodology/approach: This study used an exploratory qualitative approach to examine the risks that emerge as firms attempt to support knowledge flows within their organizational boundaries. The data were collected through open-ended essays via an online research platform from 45 full-time employees of firms operating in different sectors. The collected data were analyzed inductively through open, axial and selective coding. Findings: The research findings identified three key subprocesses of knowledge arbitrage: knowledge diffusion, knowledge brokering and knowledge absorption. These subprocesses are susceptible to various risks arising the form of channels, champions, sharers and receivers of knowledge flows. In general, the study showed that a firm's decision regarding knowledge flows, such as structured or random flows, or the presence or absence of designated coordinators to broker the flow carries specific risks for both sharers and receivers. In particular, while the risks of knowledge hiding, misinformation and disinformation manifest in all three subprocesses, low employee engagement, loss of knowledge and information overload also emerged as key risks in any two of the three subprocesses. Originality/value: This study offers valuable insights by uncovering the hitherto unexplored risks in intrafirm knowledge arbitrage. Given that knowledge is a crucial organizational tool for driving performance, innovation and competitive advantage, understanding the risks associated with intrafirm arbitrated knowledge flows can help firms anticipate and mitigate the associated adverse consequences. The findings make a novel contribution by offering (a) a comprehensive categorization of the risks associated with knowledge arbitrage rooted in processes, people and structures and (b) a macro overview of knowledge arbitrage risks associated with the processes of knowledge diffusion, knowledge brokering and knowledge absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid advancement in information technology promotes the growth of new online learning communities in an e-learning environment that overloads information and data sharing. When a new learner asks a question, how a system recommends the answer is the problem of the learner's cold start. In this article, our contributions are: (i) We proposed a Trust-aware Deep Neural Recommendation (TDNR) framework that addresses learner cold-start issues in informal e-learning by modeling complex nonlinear relationships. (ii) We utilized latent Dirichlet allocation for tag modeling, assigning tag categories to newly posted questions and ranking experts related to specific tags for active questioners based on hub and authority scores. (iii) We enhanced recommendation accuracy in the TDNR model by introducing a degree of trust between questioners and responders. (iv) We incorporated the questioner-responder relational graph, derived from structural preference information, into our proposed model. We evaluated the proposed model on the Stack Overflow dataset using mean absolute precision (MAP), root mean squared error (RMSE), and F-measure metrics. Our significant findings are that TDNR is a hybrid approach that provides more accurate recommendations compared to rating-based and social-trust-based approaches, the proposed model can facilitate the formation of informal e-learning communities, and experiments show that TDNR outperforms the competing methods by an improved margin. The model's robustness, demonstrated by superior MAE, RMSE, and F-measure metrics, makes it a reliable solution for addressing information overload and user sparsity in Stack Overflow. By accurately modeling complex relationships and incorporating trust degrees, TDNR provides more relevant and personalized recommendations, even in cold-start scenarios. This enhances user experience by facilitating the formation of supportive learning communities and ensuring new learners receive accurate recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital media age, international news commentary has changed, creating challenges such as information overload and noise. Traditional platforms often need more data-driven analysis capabilities. This study presented a specialized intelligent system for processing international news commentary data. The system provided robust analysis tools, automated recommendations, and summarization capabilities. Its comprehensive modules included data crawling, processing, visualization, and retrieval. Experimental results demonstrated the system's effectiveness in processing data and generating valuable insights. Users were able to gain objective insights into topics, emotions, and dissemination patterns. The system provided valuable resources for communication research, enhancing theoretical understanding and practical applications in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the history of encyclopedias in North America and Britain during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to foreground wider shifts in knowledge formation and organization caused by a growing perception of information overload. Tracing the Enlightenment manifestations of this concept, which is more typically seen as characteristic of twenty-first century digital culture, the article considers how attempts by Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith to establish an intellectual model of the division of labor in Scotland migrated to and were reworked in the early United States. This transition is explored through analysis of the Philadelphian publisher Thomas Dobson's Encyclopaedia; or a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature (1788–98), which reprinted and added to the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1787–97). Dobson's Encyclopaedia is situated in the context of: older traditions of synoptic writing practiced by figures like Cotton Mather, which retained a belief in the possibility of all-encompassing knowledge collection; emerging experiments by eighteenth-century encyclopedia makers with presentation and structure, designed to better order complex bodies of information and accommodate new data; and current debates around information democracy and management centered on Wikipedia, which indicate key points of change and continuity in the extended history of the encyclopedia form's struggle to be both comprehensive and up-to-date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of information overload, understanding individuals' news consumption and avoidance necessitates an examination of the specific contexts in which these practices occur. While research in journalism studies has mainly underscored consumption habits at the individual level, limited scholarly attention has been given to news avoidance within the structure of dyadic spousal relationships. This study shifts the focus from individual choices to the couple as a unit of analysis, exploring how each partner's choice of media platform, content, and routines may be shaped by the context of being in a spousal relationship. Drawing on 82 interviews with Israelis, including 14 interviews with both partners of seven heterosexual couples, this study reveals three patterns of news avoidance within the context of a couple's relationship: avoiding shared news consumption, gender-based news avoidance practices, and a division of media-related responsibilities. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the contextual factors shaping news avoidance by elucidating how media use and non-use unfold within social relationships. It also demonstrates how news avoidance can be perceived as a liberating choice, enabled by partners' negotiation of preferences, platforms, and routines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the information age of health care, nurses often face information overload, leading to negative emotions, e.g., anxiety that may impede the adoption of evidence-based practice and clinical decision-making process. Nurses with higher digital health literacy can effectively process and manage information. Despite this, no research has explored the relationship between information anxiety, digital health literacy, and core competency among nurses. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the mediating effects of digital health literacy on information anxiety and core competency among nurses. Methods: From July to October 2023, the data for this cross-sectional study were collected. The study surveyed a total of 608 nurses from three tertiary hospitals in Fujian Province, and the survey instruments included a sociodemographic information questionnaire, Chinese revision version of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (CR-DHLI), Information Anxiety Scale (IAS), and Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS 29.0, and the mediating effect of digital health literacy was examined using Mplus. Results: The mean score of nurses' information anxiety, digital health literacy, and core competency was 3.03 ± 0.91, 2.46 ± 0.56, 2.72 ± 0.88, respectively. And the mediation model of information anxiety on core competency for nurses showed a good model fit index (χ²/df = 2.207, CFI = 0.985, TLI = 0.982, RMSEA = 0.045, SRMR = 0.035). Digital health literacy was positively correlated with nurses' core competency but negatively correlated with information anxiety. The results of path analysis revealed that information anxiety had negative and significant direct effects on NCC (β = -0.119, P = 0.004) and DHL (β = -0.297, P < 0.001). DHL had a positive effect on NCC (β = 0.306, P < 0.001). Digital health literacy played a partial mediating role, accounting for 43.54% of the relationship between information anxiety and nurses' core competency. Conclusions: Information anxiety among nurses was at relatively high levels, which had a negative impact on the core competency of nurses. This issue requires attention from nursing managers. The mediating role of digital health literacy in the relationship between information anxiety and core competency among nurses has been established. Nursing managers should strengthen the evaluation of nurses' DHL and devise effective support strategies to enhance DHL, thus improving the core competence of nurses in information age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While live commerce provides consumers with a new shopping experience, it also leads them to experience shopping failures and to develop a self-protection mechanism to prevent wrong purchases. To address this issue, merchants have attempted to explore new marketing methods for live commerce, giving rise to an offense and defense game between streamers and consumers. In this study, we sought to confirm the effectiveness of consumer protection mechanisms and the impact of streamers' information overload marketing strategy in live commerce. Accordingly, we constructed a hypothetical model based on protection motive theory and information overload theory. In addition, we analyzed the data from the simulated live streaming marketing on seven hundred people through partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicate that product utilitarian value uncertainty, consumers' experiential efficacy, and response costs, which are the main factors in the formation of consumer protection mechanisms, influence consumers' intention to stop their purchases. Streamers can circumvent consumer self-protection mechanisms through information overload marketing by reducing utilitarian value uncertainty and consumers' experiential efficacy and increasing consumers' response costs. However, consumers would be able to rebuild their self-protection mechanism through consumer resilience, which moderates the effects of information overload. This study's results provide important theoretical perspectives and new ideas for formulating marketing strategies for live commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Continuing Medical Education (CME) is crucial for physicians to stay current in the rapidly advancing field of medicine. A WhatsApp (WA) based community of physicians was initiated in 2016 'WhatsApp CME India Group' to facilitate learning, knowledge sharing, and discussion among physicians. Due to participant size constraints of the technology, it evolved into seven distinct WA groups, overseen by a central administrator. A survey undertaken in the group's 7th year aimed to evaluate its effectiveness in achieving its goals, measure participant engagement, and uncover the primary factors driving its usage. Methods: The survey questionnaire was distributed to 3500 members across the 07 WhatsApp CME groups for voluntary participation. Data collected was analysed using SPSS version 24.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and reported using descriptive statistics. Results: Among the 581 survey respondents, the study found 43% of physicians use the WhatsApp academic groups for CME content, with 32% accessing their group over four times daily. The primary motivation for 77% was to discuss challenging cases and to gain knowledge updates from fellow physician (70%). Medical websites (57%), referral books (49%), and Google (43%) were other significant resources. Every participant (100%) found the WhatsApp CME India group the most beneficial resource for daily medical science updates. A significant portion (57%) of the respondents found the group valuable for real-time information exchange. Over 78% stated it kept them current with knowledge and guidelines. Notably, 94% viewed WhatsApp CME as complementary to physical conferences, not a replacement. The post-conference/webinar summaries were appreciated by 81% participants. Case discussions (31%) and update posts from fellow physicians sharing their insights and learnings (24%) were noted as activities of great academic interest. Conclusion: This study underscores the potential of digital platforms like WhatsApp in supplementing CME in India and potentially other comparable settings. The blend of digital and traditional resources suggests a balanced learning approach. While real-time engagement is a strength, challenges like information overload and privacy concerns require careful management. Striking a balance is crucial for ensuring content quality, structured discussions and privacy. As the digital age advances, professionals must critically assess shared information on these platforms to guarantee evidence-based and reliable knowledge dissemination. Trial registration: ARK 001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilitating direct citizen participation through online channels is considered as an opportunity for including harder to reach groups in participation. Because young adults (18‐25) are heavy internet users, this group is expected to be easier to include online. Evidence shows, however, that also in online direct participation young adults remain underrepresented. To better understand this discrepancy from the perspective of participants, this research asks how young adults explain their intention to participate online. Thematic analysis highlights that young adults' intention to participate in online direct participation can be explained through: (1) cause‐oriented participation, (2) the role of social (media) networks, (3) selective attention to cope with information overload, and (4) navigating misinformation and negativity. In the discussion section, this article considers how these explanations can inform government strategies for better including young adults in online direct participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold start and data sparsity are problems hindering the function of news recommender systems. Optimally serving first-time users through relevant news article recommendations is an application of these problems that have attracted scholars' attention. Users' goal commitment might be another solution that raise efficiency of information searching while it is understudied in previous research. Drawing from the results of 669 Amazon MTurk workers' questionnaires, this experimental study explored solutions. We manipulated the relevance of news recommendations (high relevance vs. low relevance) and information behavior within a news portal, either scanning (via a list of news articles) or seeking (via a search query). We also measured an individual difference variable, goal commitment. Results indicated that higher relevance of recommendations and higher goal commitment lead to lower information overload, higher user satisfaction, and lower information anxiety. We also found interaction effects of goal commitment and content relevance on article selection, such that users will be likely to select more irrelevant articles in the low relevance condition rather than the high relevance condition even though they have a goal commitment and perceive higher information overload and information anxiety indirectly via selecting more irrelevant articles. Furthermore, people with high goal commitment were less anxious when they read fewer irrelevant articles in the news recommender systems. The study addressed the importance of considering the user-recommender interaction and the potential merits of considering users goal commitment in the news recommender system design. The research indicates integrating personal traits into state-of-the-art news recommender systems has the potential to significantly improve user experience. While this research suggests personal traits can mitigate the limitations of imperfect recommender systems, users can also curate or train these systems based on their goals to further enhance efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disparities in rural cancer survivors' health outcomes are well‐documented, yet the role of sociocultural aspects of rurality, such as rural identity, attitudes toward rurality, and social standing on health beliefs and behaviors remain unclear. This study aimed to address these gaps. Methods: Rural cancer survivors (N = 188) completed a mailed/online survey. Regression analyses identified relationships among rural identity, negative attitudes toward rurality, and social standing with health outcomes, quality of life, cancer fatalism, and cancer information overload. Results: Higher rural identity was associated with believing everything causes cancer (OR = 1.58, p = 0.048), believing "there's not much you can do to lower your chances of getting cancer" (OR = 2.22, p = 0.002), and higher odds of being overloaded with cancer information (OR = 2.05, p = 0.008). Negative attitudes toward rurality was linked with higher levels of perceived stress (B = 0.83, p = 0.001), and chronic pain (OR = 1.47, p = 0.039). Higher subjective social status was associated with perceived social support (B = 0.09, p = 0.016), better overall health (B = 0.13, p < 0.001), lower levels of perceived stress (B = –0.38, p = 0.007), and chronic pain (OR = 0.80, p = 0.027). Conclusion: Sociocultural factors of rurality were associated with indicators of quality of life, cancer fatalism, and information overload. Further exploration of the underlying mechanisms that drive these associations can help improve intervention targets for rural cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although consumers are commonly exposed to numerous choices and the opportunity to touch products when they shop, the literature remains unclear on how both factors simultaneously affect choice. With the growth of online shopping, touch literature has studied the effects of mere touch (i.e., nondiagnostic tactile contact) or vicarious touch (e.g., observing a hand in physical contact with a product or imagining touching a product) to demonstrate that these nondiagnostic haptic inputs can comparably influence consumer attitude, just like diagnostic touch. By investigating the moderating effects of different haptic inputs on choice overload, this research reveals certain conditions in which nondiagnostic haptic inputs operate differently than those of diagnostic touch. We find that both mere touch (Study 1) and vicarious touch (Study 2) help reduce choice overload effects by eliminating the effect of choice set size on choice uncertainty, which is typically observed in the no touch (i.e., control) condition. As haptic cues have been increasingly employed to aid the online shopping experience for consumers, we also find that the choice overload effect is eliminated when an autotelic haptic cue is presented but amplified when an instrumental haptic cue is provided (Study 3). Besides, this research demonstrates that, while the moderating effects of the nondiagnostic haptic inputs are driven by increased personal control, instrumental touch can amplify choice overload effects due to the increased choice difficulty when choosing from large (vs. small) choice sets. These findings help retailers know what type of haptic cues to apply or avoid, as consumers have already been overloaded with abundant choices when they shop online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion of usability heuristics into the metaverse is aimed at solving the unique issues raised by virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) environments. This research points out the usability challenges of metaverse user interfaces (UIs), such as information overloading, complex navigation, and the need for intuitive control mechanisms in these immersive spaces. By adapting the existing usability models to suit the metaverse context, this study presents a detailed list of heuristics and sub-heuristics that are designed to improve the overall usability of metaverse UIs. These heuristics are essential when it comes to creating user-friendly, inclusive, and captivating virtual environments (VEs) that take care of the needs of three-dimensional interactions, social dynamics demands, and integration with digital–physical worlds. It should be noted that these heuristics have to keep up with new technological advancements, as well as changing expectations from users, hence ensuring a positive user experience (UX) within the metaverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy initiatives demand transparency of information privacy practices (TIPP) since the 1970s, at least, when a first version of the fair information practice principles (FIPP) was published. Decades later, information system (IS) providers are still struggling to meet this demand. Apparently, there is a tension between socially desirable guardrails for privacy practices (e.g., allowing for anonymity) and economic value creation (e.g., exploiting personalization surplus). To inform IS designs that can change such avaricious states to the benefit of consumers, we present a theoretical foundation (TIPP theory) explaining and prescribing what needs to be built to establish TIPP in the real world. On the one hand, TIPP theory explains why IS providers, who have privacy practices to hide, should not go beyond IS designs that meet legal demands. More importantly, TIPP theory explains and prescribes what IS providers need to build to actually establish TIPP and be able to differentiate from competitors by doing so. TIPP theory will be useful for all involved parties: IS providers are enabled to avoid privacy notice fallacies, public policy makers can give more details in their related guidance and laws published, and consumers can, ultimately, interact with IS that actually establish TIPP. The rising diffusion of information systems (IS) throughout society poses an increasingly serious threat to privacy as a social value. One approach to alleviating this threat is to establish transparency of information privacy practices (TIPP) so that consumers can better understand how their information is processed. However, the design of transparency artifacts (e.g., privacy notices) has clearly not followed this approach, given the ever-increasing volume of information processing. Hence, consumers face a situation where they cannot see the "forest for the trees" when aiming to ascertain whether information processing meets their privacy expectations. A key problem is that overly comprehensive information presentation results in information overload and is thus counterproductive for establishing TIPP. We depart from the extant design logic of transparency artifacts and develop a theoretical foundation (TIPP theory) for transparency artifact designs useful for establishing TIPP from the perspective of privacy as a social value. We present TIPP theory in two parts to capture the sociotechnical interplay. The first part translates abstract knowledge on the IS artifact and privacy into a description of social subsystems of transparency artifacts, and the second part conveys prescriptive design knowledge in form of a corresponding IS design theory. TIPP theory establishes a bridge from the complexity of the privacy concept to a metadesign for transparency artifacts that is useful to establish TIPP in any IS. In essence, transparency artifacts must accomplish more than offering comprehensive information; they must also be adaptive to the current information needs of consumers. History: Suprateek Sarker, Senior Editor; Joe Nandhakumar, Associate Editor. Funding: This work was supported by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers and KASTEL Security Research Labs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Text summarisation reduces text length while retaining important information, helping individuals, especially students, in managing information overload during research or assignments. However, existing text summarisation methods often lose important details, generate irrelevant or redundant sentences, or produce incoherent summaries. This study introduces a hybrid approach, LongT5Rank (coined in this study), which combines TextRank, an extractive summarisation algorithm, with LongT5, an abstractive summarisation algorithm, to automate the summarisation process. TextRank utilizes GloVe, a pre-trained word embedding model, and PageRank, a graph-based ranking algorithm, to select representative sentences. LongT5, an encoder-decoder transformer model, condenses extracted sentences into a concise and coherent summary, handling input sequences up to 16,384 tokens, for long-range sequence-to-sequence tasks. The LongT5Rank approach has shown significant achievements, including a minimum 60% compression rate, a minimum 0.6 semantic textual similarity score, and an improved F-measure compared to employing TextRank alone. Furthermore, it received positive feedback from Human Level Performance (HLP), underlining the importance of evaluating results directly from human users. This emphasizes the belief that the performance of the proposed solution should be assessed natively by humans. By combining both extractive and abstractive methods, LongT5Rank excels in generating accurate and coherent summaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of the ‘information noise’ phenomenon in the context of modern cinema. As a comprehensive art form, cinema in the current era confronts this multifaceted issue. This study critically analyses the concept of information noise scrutinizing its manifestations across diverse cultural and social contexts. The author highlights various dimensions of information noise and assesses its impact on the perception and interpretation of cinematic productions, encompassing aspects like historical authenticity, value stereotyping, the preservation or substitution of core ideas, censorship influence, narrative complexity, and verbal imperfections. The article also addresses the current state of scientific development of the topic under study. It underscores people’s limitations in processing information and how perception is influenced by their socio-cultural origins. The necessity for a standardized approach to identify characteristics of information noise in film production is also emphasized.

Abstract Background In the information age of health care, nurses often face information overload, leading to negative emotions, e.g., anxiety that may impede the adoption of evidence-based practice and clinical decision-making process. Nurses with higher digital health literacy can effectively process and manage information. Despite this, no research has explored the relationship between information anxiety, digital health literacy, and core competency among nurses. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the mediating effects of digital health literacy on information anxiety and core competency among nurses. Methods From July to October 2023, the data for this cross-sectional study were collected. The study surveyed a total of 608 nurses from three tertiary hospitals in Fujian Province, and the survey instruments included a sociodemographic information questionnaire, Chinese revision version of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (CR-DHLI), Information Anxiety Scale (IAS), and Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS 29.0, and the mediating effect of digital health literacy was examined using Mplus. Results The mean score of nurses’ information anxiety, digital health literacy, and core competency was 3.03 ± 0.91, 2.46 ± 0.56, 2.72 ± 0.88, respectively. And the mediation model of information anxiety on core competency for nurses showed a good model fit index (χ²/df = 2.207, CFI = 0.985, TLI = 0.982, RMSEA = 0.045, SRMR = 0.035). Digital health literacy was positively correlated with nurses’ core competency but negatively correlated with information anxiety. The results of path analysis revealed that information anxiety had negative and significant direct effects on NCC (β = -0.119, P = 0.004) and DHL (β = -0.297, P < 0.001). DHL had a positive effect on NCC (β = 0.306, P < 0.001). Digital health literacy played a partial mediating role, accounting for 43.54% of the relationship between information anxiety and nurses’ core competency. Conclusions Information anxiety among nurses was at relatively high levels, which had a negative impact on the core competency of nurses. This issue requires attention from nursing managers. The mediating role of digital health literacy in the relationship between information anxiety and core competency among nurses has been established. Nursing managers should strengthen the evaluation of nurses’ DHL and devise effective support strategies to enhance DHL, thus improving the core competence of nurses in information age.

The present study examined the predictive role of social media use on adults’ psychological distress through the mediating role of one of the digital stress factors, i.e. information overload. A sample of 295 participants aged 18–41 (M age = 21.15, SD = 3.67, 82% females) filled out self-reported questionnaires measuring social media integration, anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms, as well as cyber-based and place-based information overload. Results suggested significant associations between social media integration and emotional connection, cyber-based information overload, and psychological distress symptoms. Cyber-based information overload was positively associated with place-based information overload and psychological distress symptoms. SEM analyses suggested a partial positive and statistically significant mediation between social integration and emotional connection and psychological distress by information overload: high scores on social integration and emotional connection were marginally positively associated with high scores on information overload and with high scores on psychological distress as direct effects. However, on the second mediation path, high scores on information overload were positively associated with high scores on psychological distress, but no significant total effect was observed. We discuss the present findings considering their implications for digital stress awareness and practical strategies for preventing information overload-related negative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the information-seeking behavior of the clergy using parish pastors in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Agbarho community in Delta State as a case study. The study seeks to identify the information needs, the sources of information, the purpose of the use of information, and the challenges to information seeking among RCCG parish pastors in Agbarho. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The total population for the study comprises 44 parish pastors of the RCCG in two Zones of RCCG Delta Province 4 in Agbarho Community. The entire population was used as a sample using the total enumeration sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire. The data collected for this study were analyzed using simple percentage/frequency counts. The study found that RCCG pastors in Agbarho need and use the information for several issues such as sermon preparation, personal and church growth, church administration, evangelism, conflict resolution, meetings/programs, and personal/members' welfare among others. They get the information they need from formal sources such as the Bible, books including all RCCG publications such as Open Heavens and Sunday school manuals, magazines (RCCG Bulletins), etc. Also, RCCG pastors in Agbarho community, Delta State, Nigeria also gets information from informal sources such as senior pastors, colleagues, friends in the ministry, church members, and family among others. In their effort to seek information, RCCG pastors in Agbarho community, Delta State, Nigeria faces some challenges such as limited financial resources, lack of access to ICT facilities, language barriers, information overload, time factor, and poor awareness of information sources. The study recommends that the RCCG authorities in conjunction with other churches and community leaders should establish and equip a library in every community where they are present as a way of advancing their Christian Social Responsibilities (CSR) as this will allow their pastors to have access to free and timely information among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, online education platforms have seen rapid growth, attracting an increasing number of students to digital learning environments. In online education, learners can choose learning content and plan their own learning path more freely. Although the online education platform gives learners a high degree of freedom, it reduces the learning guidance for learners, which leads to problems such as "information overload" and "knowledge loss". The main manifestation is that learners don't know how to plan their learning path, resulting in reduced learning efficiency and poor learning effects. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a learning path recommendation algorithm based on reinforcement learning called RLLP. The RLLP model takes into account the learner's learning goals, knowledge level, and the relationships between knowledge points. Simultaneously, it also considers the smoothness of the learning path and the learner's engagement, aiming to recommend efficient and sensible learning paths to learners. Extensive experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of RLLP model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWomen are increasingly turning to mHealth apps as primary sources for breastfeeding education and support. The rising prevalence of mHealth apps presents a unique opportunity to explore their impact on women’s breastfeeding experiences. Understanding user perspectives of these apps, especially focusing on their persuasive design aspects, can offer valuable insights for enhancing maternal and child health outcomes. These insights can optimize these technologies to align with user values and promote sustained healthy behaviors. This study aimed to undertake an empirical exploration of users’ experiences with the persuasive design features employed in the Milky Way mHealth app and align the findings with human values within the value-sensitive design (VSD) framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a group of women who had used the Milky Way app. Interview data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. To provide insight into users’ values mediated by the app, a deductive analysis complemented by a data-driven inductive approach was performed. Data analysis was supported by NVivo data-management software. Findings from the study demonstrate that the persuasive design elements in the Milky Way app significantly influence users’ experiences. The analysis provided four primary themes: Informative, Easy to use, Credible, and Social connection. Overall, participants praised the app’s trustworthy educational content and support features as valuable resources for addressing breastfeeding challenges and obtaining reliable support. Participants expressed concerns about information overload and emphasized the importance of personalized support and evidence-based tailored recommendations. The results demonstrated that users’ values were expressed and embedded within the app. The analysis indicated an alignment between the app design features and the values and opinions of the users within the VSD framework. This study interprets women’s perspectives utilizing the Milky Way app and highlights the significance of its evidenced-based educational and support features. Further investigation into potential user values like privacy, remains crucial for a comprehensive user-centered app design. The empirical insights gained from this study contribute to future research, informing the development and design of ethically considerate persuasive mHealth apps to maintain their relevance in promoting positive user experiences and facilitating meaningful behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging application, generative AI has attracted many users to conduct question and answer (Q&A), which may lead to their defection from social Q&A communities. Based on the push-pull-mooring (PPM) model, this research examined user migration intention from social Q&A communities to generative AI. Data were analyzed using a mixed method of SEM and fsQCA. The results revealed that migration intention is influenced by a combination of push factors (information overload and community fatigue), pull factors (perceived anthropomorphism, perceived accuracy, perceived trustworthiness, and flow experience), and mooring factor (social influence). The fsQCA results identified three main paths leading to migration intention. These results imply that Q&A communities need to reduce information overload and mitigate users' fatigue in order to retain them and achieve a sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social commerce induces consumers' impulse purchase behavior, no work has been done to examine the impacts of different uses of social commerce on online impulse purchase and their influencing mechanisms. Grounded on the stimulus-organism-response theory, this study explored the relationships between cognitive use (CU), hedonic use (HU), and social use (SU) of social commerce (SC) and online impulse purchase (OIP) and technostress (TS), with mediating effect of social capital and information overload (IO). Non-probability purposive samples of 693 respondents were collected via a questionnaire survey in different provinces of China, and the data were scrutinized with Smart Partial Least Squares (SmartPLS). The results reveal that SU, CU, and HU positively affect social bridging (SBR), social bonding (SBO), and IO. Furthermore, SBR and SBO positively influence OIP, but SBO negatively influences TS. Moreover, IO positively influences TS but negatively influences OIP. Additionally, TS hurts OIP. This is the first study that incorporated different uses of social commerce (i.e., SU, CU, and HU) and investigated their positive and adverse effects on OIP. The study helps understand SC uses' influencing mechanisms on customers' OIP. The results show the positive role of social capital (i.e., SBR and SBO) in enhancing OIP. It also shows that improper and uncontrolled use of SC could lead to stress or switching behavior. The research also offers guidelines for managers to grow more constructive tactics for promoting consumers' impulse purchases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]