Living with New Media Technology
Andrew Wong · IGI Global eBooks · 2010
This chapter considers the collective information behavior of the poor in Bangladesh. It examines the mobile phone as the central node and seeks to understand the construction of collectiveness by examining the collective-mediated learning, sharing and experimenting among the poor. Three brief cases provide the background and illustrate the elements of a Learn, Share and Experiment model. Against this tapestry of multiple perspectives, collective-mediated learning, sharing and experimenting enable the poor to be cost-efficient and socially productive. In conclusion there is an urgent need for all researchers to reexamine and rethink the poor’s collective information behavior as new media technology spreads deeper into their lives. Without it, we may miss the opportunity to discover something useful that will eventually lift them out of poverty.