Seeking in Cycles: How Users Leverage Personal Information Ecosystems to Find Mental Health Information

Information is crucial to how people understand their mental health and well-being, and many turn to online sources found through search engines and social media. We present an interview study (n = 17) of participants who use online platforms to seek information about their mental illnesses. Participants use their personal information ecosystems in a cyclical process to find information. This cycle is driven by the adoption of new information and questioning the credibility of information. Privacy concerns fueled by perceptions of stigma and platform design also influence their information-seeking decisions. Our work proposes theoretical implications for social computing and information retrieval on information seeking in users’ personal information ecosystems. We offer design implications to support users in navigating personal information ecosystems to find mental health information.