Information Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In any healthcare crisis, people typically seek out information and news about infections, expert analysis of the situation, government policies, sources of support, and so on. Research on other types of crisis situations have shown how individuals draw on information from official sources, the media, and their own contacts in order to make sense of what is going on, understand the risks, and decide how to respond to the situation at a personal level. This chapter examines what is known about individual information behaviors during a pandemic and the implications of these. The chapter includes consideration of levels, patterns, and changes in information consumption during a pandemic; the links between information consumption and pandemic-related behaviors; information content and messaging styles as tools for achieving pandemic management goals; the role of online information channels in supporting daily life during a pandemic; and technology and access to information in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to support various life activities.