Platforms, algorithms, and the shifting boundaries of information horizons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47989/ir31ISIC65141Keywords:
Information horizons theory, information seeking, algorithmic gatekeepingAbstract
Introduction. This paper revisits Sonnenwald’s (1999) information horizons theory to better account for the socio-technical conditions of contemporary digital life.
Method. Using conceptual analysis (Furner, 2004) and a critical synthesis of interdisciplinary literature across education and journalism or news environments, it evaluates information horizons theory’s five original propositions in light of platforms and algorithms that mediate human information behaviour.
Results. The paper finds that platforms such as search engines, social media, and generative artificial intelligence systems not only mediate access to information, but actively structure what users can see, trust, use, and share. While retaining’s emphasis on individuals, contexts, situations, and social networks, the proposed framework—platform-structured information horizons—adds an algorithmic gate as a fifth element that shapes information-seeking, collaboration, visibility, and perceived possibility.
Conclusion. This contribution is both retrospective and forward-looking: it preserves the strengths of information horizons theory while calling on information behaviour researchers to more fully interrogate the systems shaping agency today—and to imagine theoretical futures that meet the challenges of the next several decades.
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