From information seeking to information avoidance: Understanding the health information behavior during a global health crisis.

Individuals seek information for informed decision-making, and they consult a variety of information sources nowadays. However, studies show that information from multiple sources can lead to information overload, which then creates negative psychological and behavioral responses. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, we propose a model to understand the effect of information seeking, information sources, and information overload (Stimuli) on information anxiety (psychological organism), and consequent behavioral response, information avoidance during the global health crisis (COVID-19). The proposed model was tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for which data were collected from 321 Finnish adults using an online survey. People found to seek information from traditional sources such as mass media, print media, and online sources such as official websites and websites of newspapers and forums. Social media and personal networks were not the preferred sources. On the other hand, among different information sources, social media exposure has a significant relationship with information overload as well as information anxiety. Besides, information overload also predicted information anxiety, which further resulted in information avoidance.

Mapping internet literacy skills of digital natives: A developing country perspective.

Over the last three decades, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have changed the world in all walks of life. It has not only influenced the ways of human communication but also changed the way of learning. However, to utilize the facility of the Internet in effective manners, people need a certain set of skills called "Internet Literacy Skills". The purpose of the study was to explore the level of Internet literacy skills of Undergraduate first-year students (Digital Natives) of the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. The study is quantitative, and data were gathered through questionnaires. A total of 180 students from three disciplines i.e. Pure Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities were approached for the final data collection. Descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (regression analysis) were applied to analyze the collected data. Results further revealed that respondents possess very good knowledge to identify legal and illegal activities and information on the Internet. Findings of the study, not only reported the Internet literacy skills of digital natives but also helped to come up with a theoretical model that may be useful to design an efficient and effective Internet literacy module/subject to help students increase their Internet use-related skills.