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The Information Experience of New Mothers in Social Media: a Grounded Theory Study

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The Information Experience of New Mothers in Social Media: a Grounded Theory Study The information experience of new mothers in social media: a grounded theory study Kate Davis Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy Information Systems School Faculty of Science and Engineering Queensland University of Technology August 2015 Abstract This thesis reports on a constructivist grounded theory study that investigated the nature of new mothers’ information experience in social media. Social media has fundamentally changed the nature of information: how it is created, how it flows, how it is sourced, how it is used, and how it is interpreted. New mothers have diverse and intensive information needs and information is a valuable commodity. Increasingly, mothers are immersed in social media and enact their information experience in social media spaces. The study used in depth, semi-structured, intensive interviews as the primary data collection strategy. In total, 17 interviews were undertaken with 11 participants. Eight participants took part in a social media observation activity following their initial interview. Of these, six participated in follow up interviews that were informed by the observation and emergent directions in the research. The findings provide a holistic view of new mothers’ information experience in social media. Thirteen interconnected and overlapping categories of experience were constructed through a constructivist grounded theory analysis process. These categories are: Belonging to the sisterhood; Sharing; Learning to be a mother; Understanding normal; Being more than a mother; Enacting relationships; Experiencing moments of light; Overcoming isolation; Sense-making, catharsis and self-care; Navigating the politics of mothering; Exercising self consciousness and social awareness; Being private in public; and Documenting. Additionally, the findings reveal what the participants experience as information in social media, as well as the types of information interactions they engage in. Finally, the findings explicate the nature of new mothers’ information experience by identifying the characteristics of their information experience across the categories of experience. The study resulted in the development of a substantive grounded theory that explains the nature of new mothers’ information experience in social media. The theory describes new mothers’ information experience in social media as a complex, multi-layered, and highly contextualised phenomenon. It encapsulates multiple individual experiences of information, and is broader and deeper than the individual experiences it is comprised of. The theory incorporates the characteristics, ii The information experience of new mothers in social media: a grounded theory study dimensions and categories of experience to provide a holistic view of the phenomenon. This study makes a contribution to knowledge, methodology and practice. As the first doctoral study to take information experience as the object of study, this research makes a significant contribution to knowledge and to the establishment of information experience as a newly articulated research domain. It provides insight into how information experience as a broader object of study might be defined. The methodological approach, combining multiple sequential interviews with social media observation within a constructivist grounded theory framework, is unusual and will be of interest to both social media and information researchers. The findings also provide insight into new mothers’ experience of and with information in social media that will be of interest to practitioners across a wide range of professions involved in supporting new mothers through the transition to motherhood, including the information, health, social work, and psychology professions. Keywords Information experience, new mothers, social media, constructivist grounded theory, experiences of information. The information experience of new mothers in social media: a grounded theory study iii Table of contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................... ii Keywords ................................................................................................................. iii Table of contents .................................................................................................... iv List of tables ............................................................................................................. x List of figures ........................................................................................................... x Statement of original authorship ........................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Background ............................................................................................................ 1 Information experience in social media .................................................................. 3 The research problem ............................................................................................ 5 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 5 Key findings ............................................................................................................ 7 Original contribution ................................................................................................ 8 Contribution to theory .......................................................................................... 9 Contribution to method ........................................................................................ 9 Contribution to practice ..................................................................................... 10 Definitions ............................................................................................................. 10 New mother ....................................................................................................... 10 Social media ..................................................................................................... 10 Mummy blog ..................................................................................................... 11 In real life .......................................................................................................... 11 Information behaviour ....................................................................................... 11 Information experience ..................................................................................... 12 Information research ......................................................................................... 13 Overview of this thesis .......................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2: Preliminary literature review .............................................................. 14 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 15 The literature review in grounded theory .............................................................. 16 Positioning the study within the spectrum of existing information theory ............. 19 Information and mothers ....................................................................................... 21 Mothers and information: research from the information studies discipline ...... 22 Motherhood and information ............................................................................. 23 iv The information experience of new mothers in social media: a grounded theory study Becoming a mother ........................................................................................... 24 Information seeking as a function of parenting ................................................. 25 Types of information needed ............................................................................. 26 Sources of information ...................................................................................... 27 Information grounds .......................................................................................... 33 Information challenges for mothers ................................................................... 34 Summary: Information and mothers .................................................................. 36 Information, social support and identity ................................................................ 38 Social support ................................................................................................... 38 Online identity ................................................................................................... 41 Summary: Information, social support and identity ........................................... 42 Mummy blogging .................................................................................................. 42 Summary: Mummy blogging ............................................................................. 44 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 45 Chapter 3: Methodology ........................................................................................ 45 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 46
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