An Exploration of Digital Hoarding Behavior: I don't know how to explain it, but I definitely do lots of it!
Authors
Dobre, Georgiana Stefania ; Zidariu, Alexandra Corina
Term
4. term
Publication year
2020
Abstract
Digital hoarding – tendensen til at gemme store mængder digital information og sjældent at slette – er svær at opdage, fordi den ikke er synlig som fysisk rod. Denne afhandling undersøger, hvilke faktorer der påvirker menneskers akkumuleringsvaner, som fører til digitalt rod. Med udgangspunkt i Personal Information Management (PIM)‑rammen (processerne at gemme, organisere og genfinde) gennemførte vi en kvalitativ undersøgelse med 10 deltagere, der udfyldte Saving‑Inventory Revised (SI‑R) og deltog i semistrukturerede interviews om deres digitale gemme-, håndterings- og genfindingspraksisser. Analysen viser, at PIM‑rammen kan bruges til at identificere de delprocesser, der driver digital hoarding: overdreven gemning (anskaffelse) og manglende frasortering er centrale. Motiverne ligner dem ved fysisk hoarding og omfatter både instrumentel værdi (filer kan blive nyttige senere) og sentimental værdi, hvor den instrumentelle begrundelse fremhæves oftere. Resultaterne bør tolkes med forbehold på grund af det lille deltagerantal, men peger på, at indsatser mod digitalt rod bør fokusere på anskaffelses- og slettevaner.
Digital hoarding—the tendency to keep large amounts of digital information and rarely discard—can be hard to detect because it is not visible like physical clutter. This thesis explores the factors that shape people’s accumulation habits leading to digital clutter. Guided by the Personal Information Management (PIM) framework (the processes of saving, organizing, and retrieving), we conducted a qualitative study with 10 participants who completed the Saving‑Inventory Revised (SI‑R) and took part in semi‑structured interviews about their digital saving, management, and retrieval practices. The analysis shows that the PIM framework helps pinpoint the sub‑processes that drive digital hoarding: excessive saving (acquiring) and failure to discard are central. The motivations mirror those seen in physical hoarding and include instrumental value (files might be useful later) and sentimental value, with instrumental reasoning cited more often. Findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the small sample size, but suggest that efforts to tackle digital clutter should target acquisition and deletion habits.
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