SOCIAL INFORMATION: CRITICAL CONCEPTIONS AND CURRENT PERSPECTIVES

CONCEPÇÕES CRÍTICAS E PERSPECTIVAS ATUAIS

Abstract

This study discusses social information as a field within Library and Information Science, with a critical, social, and political perspective. It aims to understand how international literature utilizes this concept in research and professional practice. A bibliographic search was conducted using the OpenAlex database for the term "social information" and analysis was performed using the NotebookLM AI tool. The results indicate the following as the main approaches to discussing social information: a) social information in digital environments and media; b) social information processing theory in the organizational context; c) social information as observational learning for uncertainty reduction; d) sociolinguistic information and identity; e) emotional expressions based on emotion analysis; f) social information as administrative data in Brazil. It was evidenced that the field possesses a wide range of meanings and theoretical and practical conceptions, with strong interconnections between technology, psychology, and management, and discussion in various countries, notably China and the United States.