Reimagining small world: A preliminary model

Abstract

The concept of a small world was developed out of studies that looked at socio-economically and informationally poor communities, characterized by social types and social norms which constrain access to information. This paper presents a preliminary model of a reconceptualized small world, and associated concepts, designed to study a world whose members are not purposively seeking information nor is it informationally poor. The ongoing qualitative study covered by this paper, looks at a gendered online community, a diaspora small world, formed around a shared interest in reading and writing fan fiction and the spaces they occupy. Viewing small world and information ground as complementary constructs, early observations lend credence to the value in reconceptualizing small world from the perspective of information ground and vice versa.