Black Immigrants, Information Access, & Information Overload

LIS literature suggests that the information norms of immigrants are situated in information poverty, gatekeeping, and the digital divide—all of which inhibit access to information. The canon primarily addresses how insufficient information leads to social exclusion. However, it is also possible for immigrants to be overwhelmed by the vastness of information. This dissertation explores the ways in which Black immigrants living in the U.S. experience and negotiate information overload. Virtually no LIS studies explore the dynamics of information as a stressor from the point of view of Black immigrants. Although they are hardly homogeneous, attention to the realities of African, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinx individuals living in the U.S. is missing from the current body of LIS research. This three-part study involves 1.) analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey to understand Blacks immigrants’ information and communication technology (ICT) access and usage; 2.) survey research to further examine information access as well as measure information overload at a community level ; 3.) focus group research to afford additional insight regarding possible linkages between information overload and acculturative stress. Findings support that Black immigrants are digitally included, but face information overload and therefore social exclusion as a result of adjusting to life in the United States. Information overload is both a casual and determinant of acculturative stress. Finally, to be socially included, immigrants must be equipped with information resilience.