Hidden and forbidden: conceptualising Dark Knowledge

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of Dark Knowledge, an epistemology that acknowledges both alternative knowledge and ways of knowing which are cognizant of the moral and ethical positioning of each.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that uses existing relevant literature to develop the work. The paper uses a four-stage literature search process and draws upon a range of disciplines, including philosophy, computer science and information management, to underpin the evolution of the concept.FindingsAs a conceptual paper, no empirical findings are presented. Instead, the paper presents an embryonic model of Dark Knowledge and identifies a number of characteristics, which may be used to explore the concept in more detail.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a clear need to develop a body of empirical work, adding to the theoretical perspectives presented in this paper. It is anticipated that this paper will provide one of the cornerstones for future studies in this area.Originality/valueThe paper makes an original contribution to the study of information behaviours, practices and epistemology.

Dark side of instant messaging: an empirical investigation from technology and society perspective

“…With the help of electronic media, people can spread information which has no authenticity. It instigates the readers of such information, and the readers then may take unlawful actions Spreading inappropriate information quickly (SIIQ) Leung (2008), Choliz (2012), Augner and Hacker (2012), Rosenbaum and Wong (2012), Burnett and Lloyd (2020) Electronic platforms like WhatsApp, WeChat and so on have the capability to disseminate information quickly. The information so spread is found to be mostly wrong, inappropriate, and unfounded Ease of using instant messaging (EOUIM) Bandura (1997), Garret and Danziger (2008), Yi et al (2009), Sangma (2017), Gong et al (2018) Ease of use is construed as a perception by which individuals believe that some efforts are needed for learning new technology like instant messaging platforms Instant messaging is cost effective (IMCE) Zeithaml (1988), Kim and Srivastava (2007), Hamari et al (2015), Kim and Shin (2015), Chaputula et al (2020) When individual proceeds to use a new technology, the individual assumes the utility of the system by comparing what is gained against what is spent.…”

“…Also, to ascertain that the model is in order, the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) was used as an index, and the model's values were found to be 0.060 and 0.032 for PLS and for PLSc, respectively (Henseler et al, 2014). Both these values are less than the highest threshold value of 0.08, as recommended by Hu and Bentler (1998) Augner and Hacker (2012), Burnett and Lloyd (2020), Choliz (2012), Leung (2008), Rosenbaum and Wong (2012) 0.85 0.93 SIIQ1 0.94 SIIQ2 0.95 SIIQ3 0.91 SIIQ4 0.92 SIIQ5 0.90 Ease of using instant messaging (EOUIM) Bandura (1997), Garret and Danziger (2008), Gong et al (2018), Sangma (2017) Hamari et al (2015), Kim and Srivastava (2007), Kim and Shin (2015), Zeithaml (1988) Agarwal (2015), Hinduja (2004), Mehta and Singh (2013), Moitra (2005), Narahari and Shah (2016) confirming that the model is in order. This process helped us to assess the path coefficients, p-values and R 2 values.…”

“…Technological advancement offers many advantages to the users; however, its dark side is not nominal, because the information disseminated through IM platforms is mostly unverified and has much influence over people (Gong et al , 2018; Burnett and Lloyd, 2020). The dissemination of wrongful information to the masses with IM platforms might instigate a group of people to react and respond immediately, without thinking about the legal consequence of their action.…”

Information Seeking Behaviour of the Socially Withdrawn

“…When analyzing the essence of dark knowledge Burnett and Lloyd (2020) define it to be "having the potential to marginalise, exclude and isolate and "other" people or communities who accpet this type of knowledge. Based on this, it can be stated that some of the information needs of hikikomoris and the information they share in the forum are of such a nature.…”

“…Teo 2013;Kondo et al 2013;Sarchione et al 2015;Tajan 2015). In this article we analyze those special features their information behavior has, what kind of information they trust and in what role is the disnormative information (see Haasio 2015), a. k. a. dark knowledge (see Burnett & Lloyd 2020) in their information behavior.…”