Research On Information Behavior Of Rural Poor People Based On Small World Theory

Eliminating poverty,improving people's livelihood and gradually realizing common prosperity are the essential requirements of socialism and the important mission of our party.Material help work of poverty alleviation for poor population has achieved remarkably.But from the perspective of information society,information poverty can cause huge impact for those people.Considering that,it should be the next key point of poverty alleviation.Based on Alfred Chatman's theory of small world information behavior as the core concept and taking Minquan County in Shangqiu City and Yuanyang County in Xinxiang City as examples,this paper attempts to understand the information behavior characteristics of the rural poor living in the "small world",analyze the influencing factors of the information behavior of the poor,and establish a connection between the "small world" and the outside world to help the poor cross the information barrier.Researchers have gone deep into Minquan County,Shangqiu City,Henan Province,and Yuanyang County,Xinxiang City for many times.Using quantitative questionnaires,qualitative in-depth interviews and participatory observation methods,investigating and analyzing the information acquisition,information use and information sharing behaviors of 203 poor people.The survey found that the poor have a lower willingness to obtain information.About three quarters of the poor have no radio,newspapers,magazines or computers in their homes,but they have color TV sets and ordinary mobile phones that are not connected to the Internet.Television and mobile phones are the most frequently used media for the poor,while in interpersonal communication,the poor communicate more often with their neighbors.To get real returns and to show social compliance are the main motivations for poor people to use information.Agricultural Production Information and Poverty Alleviation Policy Information are the main information preferences of the poor.Poor people are cautious about information sharing and seldom exchange information with people outside the "small world".The poor people living in the "small world" are indifferent to external information,tend to seek the satisfaction of instant information,use television as a leisure tool instead of an information acquisition tool,share information only in a "circular" scope,and comply with social norms in information behavior.The factors that influence the "small world" information behavior of the poor are as follows: poor access to information equipment hinders access to information of the poor;Theboundaries of information activities(time,space and knowledge)restrict the information activities of the poor;The willingness to obtain information and other information preferences affect the information sharing of the poor;"Junior Power" affects Information Behavior of Poor People.The "small world" has created an information gap between the poor and the outside world.For how to break this barrier and establish an effective connection,the researchers suggest to start with different actors,strengthen the construction of information infrastructure in poor areas,meet the information service needs of the poor,set up information assistance classes through village "capable people",attach importance to emotional information support of "core relationship circle" and improve the information quality of the poor.