All posts filed under: News

Valuing differences

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Four years ago, while tinkering in the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, I had an idea for a book about practicing shared understanding. I started writing it slowly two years before I received a book contract. As the years went on, we reached crisis point with shared understanding and bridging divides needed more than ever. Under heavy emotions I battled to write and it felt like no one would hear, especially where it was most needed. In the UK and Australia, the book was categorized under Education or Social Sciences – where I intended it to be. In the US, it was categorized under Policy Science and Technology. This was unexpected but it made sense. In September 2020, University of Delaware was first in the world to order the published book. After today, I am writing my next book in a less anxious state. I already hear the growing relief in the voices of the people I interview online in the US and elsewhere. The communication lines are now open and valued and it feels …

Everyday life information experiences on Twitter and social media

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Miller, F., Davis, K. & Partridge, H. (2019). Everyday life information experiences in Twitter: A grounded theory. Information Research, vol. 24, no. 2. Abstract Introduction. This paper presents the findings from a project that investigated people’s everyday life information experiences on Twitter. Method. The project employed constructivist grounded theory methodology, which emphasizes personal, subjective meaning-making or construction of reality. Eleven people from Boston, Massachusetts participated in the study. Each person participated in two in-depth interviews. Analysis. The study used the methods of constant comparison to create codes and categories towards constructing a new substantive model of information experiences on Twitter in the context of everyday life. Results. The substantive model constructed consists of twelve categories: being aware of audiences; making sense of uncertainty; being part of a community; conversing freely; observing the world; having instant sources; being humorous; documenting life moments; being dependent; self-regulating; broadening horizons; and valuing diverse voices. Conclusion. A conceptual model of people’s everyday life experiences on Twitter was developed from an innovative information experience lens. The model can be used to inform research and …

Producing Shared Understanding for Digital and Social Innovation

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My first sole authored book was published with Palgrave Macmillan / Springer in September 2020 and is available at all major book stores in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, including Amazon Book Description In the Anthropocene age there is a need for unifying the relationships between people, planet and technology, their interactions, experiences and impacts across ecosystems. In response to this need, this book introduces unifying bridging concepts informational waves and transdisciplinary resonance towards producing shared understanding. This book also presents emerging methods for transdisciplinary projects focusing on moments, paradoxes and dialogues for digital social innovation and sustainable development partnership goals for improving quality of life. Shared understanding is about how people from different fields and perspectives are communicating, curating, embodying, intuiting and reflecting on shared responsibilities within social ecologies. As a guide to co-designing for information experiences that create meaningful moments of shared understanding, the author illuminates essential transferable, lateral mindsets and soft skills: knowing the gaps through imagination, creativity, listening and noticing, and bridging the gaps through problem emergence, multiple stakeholders, …