Why? - Collaborative Web Search: Who, What, Where, When, and Why - page 64

6.2 SHARED SOCIAL INTERESTS

There are also a number of social reasons people work together on search tasks. In Morris et al.
( 2010c ) study, several people described the act of asking others for help answering a question as
“fun.” People also reported asking questions of others so that members of their network would be
aware of their interests, enabling them to simultaneously satisfy both an information need and a
social purpose. The desire to connect socially with others also prompted people when responding to
questions, in order to rekindle old friendships, maintain current ones, and create new ones (Table 6.2).
Many people were motivated to answer questions because they had free time; in these cases, they
would answer if the question was quick to reply to, and because it entertained them to do so.
In addition to providing a fun and socially-connecting experience, involving others in the
search process can potentially increase users' confidence that they have found accurate, relevant
information ( Morris, M.R. , 2007 ). This increase in confidence may be due to having multiple people
viewing and confirming the validity of data, or to the increased coverage of the information space
resulting from combining multiple users' search strategies; it may also be due to the high level of
trust that users place in information provided by friends, family, and colleagues. The most common
reason Morris et al. ( 2010c ) participants reported for seeking information via social networks, rather
than via a search engine, was that they had more trust in the responses provided by friends. This
suggests that helping people identify trustworthy collaborators could be important for initiating
collaborative search groups. One way trustworthy collaborators can be identified is via long standing
relationships. Martha, for example, relies on her husband, her sister, and a colleague at work to help
her find information related to her asthma. The nature of the relationship between collaborators is
an important motivator, with people more likely to provide answers to questions posed by closer
friends ( Morris et al. , 2010c ).
In addition to fun, connectedness, and trust, another social motivator for working with others
on a search can be earning social rewards for such interactions. For example, Morris et al. ( 2010c )
found that some people were motivated to answer other users' questions on social networking sites
by a feeling that they were earning social capital, i.e., if they answered others' questions, their own
might be more likely to receive replies in the future. Similarly, some answered out of a feeling of
obligation, because they had received help in the past or because they felt indebted to a particular
community ( Morris et al. , 2010c ).
The mode of collaboration for searches may affect the social benefits and costs of participating,
and thus may in turn affect whether people do it. Those who value the social interaction would
probably benefit from direct communication between participants as opposed to the abstraction of
information. Many people in Morris et al. ( 2010c ) study indicated they would prefer a face-to-face
or personal request when answering questions, and they ignored questions directed broadly to the
network-at-large, as indicated by comments like, “I would rather be asked directly,” and, “My lack
of response is motivated by the impersonal nature of the questions.”
Some people like to be recognized for how they contribute to a social search. This information
could be reflected internally, within a collaborative search tool, or pushed externally for others to