Skulmowski Alexander, Standl Bernhard
Digital Education Institute for Informatics and Digital Education, Karlsruhe University of Education Karlsruhe Germany.
Informatics Education, Institute for Informatics and Digital Education Karlsruhe University of Education Karlsruhe Germany.
Hum Behav Emerg Technol. 2021 Jul;3(3):350-356. doi: 10.1002/hbe2.260. Epub 2021 May 6.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the ubiquity of health-related information, disseminated using digital technology. However, recent research suggests that this accessibility of (often negative) information can induce adverse psychological effects, including anxiety, panic-based hoarding, and other unhealthy behaviors. Some of these consequences have been explained with the idea of an information overload. Considering these current developments, it may become harder to effectively communicate COVID-19-related information in smaller, local contexts, such as universities. By analyzing the page views and searches on the website of a university of education in Germany, we derive recommendations for the delivery of information of local organizations. One conclusion is that the need for information during the pandemic decreases as time passes (at least at the local level of institutions such as universities), and even new emergencies such as the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19 only affect this behavioral pattern to a minor extent. As a result of this COVID-19 information fatigue, strategies to keep members of institutions informed are discussed. In addition, we suggest developing a mobile app for delivering individualized information right on hand using machine learning and natural language processing strategies. In sum, individual organizations interested in keeping their members informed concerning COVID-19 should consider the use of personalized information strategies that avoid inducing negative emotional states. Moreover, potentials for connecting people using digital technology could be harnessed in local organizations.
新冠疫情导致与健康相关的信息无处不在，这些信息通过数字技术进行传播。然而，最近的研究表明，这种（通常是负面的）信息的可获取性会引发不良心理影响，包括焦虑、基于恐慌的囤积行为以及其他不健康行为。其中一些后果可以用信息过载的概念来解释。考虑到当前的这些发展情况，在诸如大学这样较小的本地环境中，有效传播与新冠疫情相关的信息可能会变得更加困难。通过分析德国一所教育大学网站的页面浏览量和搜索情况，我们得出了针对本地组织信息传播的建议。一个结论是，疫情期间对信息的需求会随着时间的推移而减少（至少在大学等机构的本地层面是这样），甚至像新冠疫情第二波开始这样的新紧急情况也只会在很小程度上影响这种行为模式。由于这种对新冠疫情信息的疲劳，我们讨论了让机构成员了解情况的策略。此外，我们建议开发一款移动应用程序，利用机器学习和自然语言处理策略即时提供个性化信息。总之，有兴趣让其成员了解新冠疫情的各个组织应考虑使用个性化信息策略，以避免引发负面情绪状态。此外，在本地组织中可以利用数字技术来连接人们的潜力。
