Ambient Awareness of Who Knows What: Spontaneous Inferences of Domain Expertise

• In Event: Techology in/and the Organization

Abstract

Being able to recognize the expertise of others (who knows what) is essential for knowledge exchange. A prominent idea among media and organization scholars is that browsing social media fosters such awareness, because people spontaneously register various cues to others’ interests and expertise they encounter online (ambient awareness). However, the central idea that ambient awareness develops without effort or intention has never been tested. In the tradition of spontaneous inferences research, we examined whether inferences of domain expertise are indeed spontaneous. In two experiments, participants inferred actors’ implied expertise after reading (Experiment 1; N = 91) or skimming through (Experiment 2; N = 269) domain-implying social media posts. Domain inferences under low attentiveness (skimming) were moderated by number of cues and participants’ own interests. By extending psychological research on spontaneous inferences to domain expertise, we provide a foundation for research into ambient awareness and the informational benefits of social media.

Authors

• Ana Levordashka, University of Bath

• Sonja Utz, Leibniz-Institut fuer Wissensmedien