Examining relationships among strategies of social information seeking on Facebook and perceived accuracy of information through warranting value and source trust

Abstract

Strategies of information seeking (IS) about other people on social network sites have been examined in various interpersonal relationships. However, research has yet to account for whether, how, or why different strategies yield information of different quality. This study employs perceived warranting value and characteristics of a source as explanatory mechanisms to account for the relationship between strategies of IS and the perceived accuracy of information. An experiment randomly assigned people (N = 157) to engage in one of four IS strategies on Facebook for the purpose of reacquainting with another person. Trust in a source mediated the relationship between certain IS strategies and the accuracy of information obtained, but perceptions of warranting value did not.