Sharing "happy" information

Tinto, Fiona and Ruthven, Ian (2016) Sharing "happy" information. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 67 (10). pp. 2329-2343. ISSN 1532-2890 (https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23581)

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Abstract

This study focusses on the sharing of ‘happy’ information; information that creates a sense of happiness within the individual sharing the information. We explore the range of factors motivating and impacting upon individuals' happy information sharing behaviour within a casual leisure context through 30 semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that the factors influencing individuals’ happy information sharing behaviour are numerous, and impact upon each other. Most individuals considered sharing happy information important to their friendships and relationships. In various contexts the act of sharing happy information was shown to enhance the sharer’s happiness.