I’m here! Although I write about library and information concepts applied to technology and organizations. I’ve been writing on Substack since May 2024 and other platforms since 2018.
Not sure that I count. I am a librarian with my MLS and used to be an academic librarian before entering the corporate world in 2018.
Couldn't agree more. You really nailed how these algorithmic platforms contradict themselves. Is 'adaptive infophilia' truely the key to understanding this problem?
Short answer: if the “lock” is “How do we understand and resist power that works through digital, affective, always‑on subjectivity?”, then yes—adaptive infophilia can behave like a master key.
Long answer: you can think of adaptive infophilia as a master key within the domain of information experience and engagement, operating at multiple levels (individual, institutional, platform). It lets you connect personal habits, interface design, organizational practice, and civic consequences under one conceptual umbrella, instead of juggling disconnected theories and problems.
For individuals, it offers a unified way to think about your information lifestyle: how you scroll, search, study, react, and emotionally metabolize information across domains and contexts, rather than treating “media literacy,” “news avoidance,” “overload,” etc. as separate issues.
For institutions and platforms, it offers a bridging vocabulary to critique how their designs, policies, incentives, and metrics cultivate particular information lifestyles and suppress others.
(It also helps computing professionals design better systems)
For the specific problem Han is pointing to (psychopolitics—see also my Intellectual Freedom Reimagined trilogy on self‑censorship, data demands, and civic health), where power works through psyche, affect, and “freely chosen” self‑optimisation, adaptive infophilia lines up almost perfectly.
So, bottom line: adaptive infophilia is a master key for the subjective and everyday side of psychopolitics—how it gets into you, and how you can push back to reclaim agency and power over your information styles. It's also a bridging key that connects that subjective level to larger analyses of platforms, capital, and governance, deepening our understanding of where power resides in the information environment and interfacing with other keys to fully explain why these systems exist—and how to change them structurally.
I think my answer would be to appropriate the medical ethics maxim, "Do no harm" and its corollary that information systems need to bring net benefit to the user population (the goal of information is to inform, implying benefit). Adaptive Infophilia stresses that information (in the broadest sense of the word) is to be used for good. Algorithms that feed company bottom lines at the expense of human benefit are in the wrong. This includes making users the product, causing social media addiction, failing to protect abuse of young people, and fostering addictive AI, among many other evils.
Thank you, yes! Adaptive infophilia plus “do no harm" (which sounds like a constraint) actually open up more durable and generative forms of power: 1) It improves signal‑to‑noise for individuals, freeing cognitive and emotional resources to notice patterns, build expertise, and act effectively. 2) It strengthens epistemic cultures (groups’ habits of producing and validating knowledge), reducing echo chambers and fostering cross‑pollination of ideas. 3) It supports platform resistance and redesign, by legitimizing refusal of harmful engagement patterns and pushing for infrastructures that enable non‑weaponized information use.
Thank you so much for the shout out! I am content for my little blog to reach a fairly niche audience. The fact that it can be cited as an example of a broader theme in discourse is high praise. Apparently, I need to utilize the social media features of Substack more!
Wonderful to read and nice to know that you're thriving in your niche—that's healthy infophilia in action: curiosity with discipline and without the exhaustion, with depth, and quality without pressure. That's what adaptive infohilia is all about. And, nope no pressure to use the Notes social media. Keep up the enjoyable long form writing.
I am so honored to be featured here. I also learned about some really great people that I now am planning to follow and learn from.
I honestly did not think I was one of the first librarians to be on here talking about AI and librarianship. So I learned something new tonight. To be even mentioned in the same breath as Reed and Alan is just amazing to me. I am honestly just a school librarian who was interested in AI and its impact on education and librarianship and thought I would write about it. I never thought I would be considered a leader in this field. I am truly honored.
I feel flattered to be included with the likes of Aaron Tay in this excellent post! As Anita notes, I was essentially the first person in library-AI world to start posting on Substack, along with Elissa Malespina. However, Aaron Tay has been posting about this on various platforms I was in high school.
Evidently, I need to be active here on Notes! Go ahead and read my blog and see if you would like to subscribe (it's free to get everything, but you can pay if you like it enough), or suggest topics. Because of the twins, I haven't posted in several months, but I do have 7 posts in the making.
Thank you. I love your transparency and enthusiasm. Enjoy the twins - children grow far too fast!
Re Notes. Adaptive infophilia doesn't prescribe where or how much to engage—it equips you to evaluate platforms relationally: Does this space support your infophilic health (curiosity without exhaustion, regulation, reflection, and depth without pressure)? Or does it push performative, reactive styles that erode it?
Substack Notes, like any platform snippet feature or social media leans psychopolitical: quick hits, reply chains, visibility rewards. This makes niches or silence wiser for true infophiles. Healthier. Saves time. And here's something else to keep in mind: a high reader count doesn't necessarily mean high readership (free or paid). Paid conversions – Substack's rates remain low here.
I’m here! Although I write about library and information concepts applied to technology and organizations. I’ve been writing on Substack since May 2024 and other platforms since 2018.
Not sure that I count. I am a librarian with my MLS and used to be an academic librarian before entering the corporate world in 2018.
My newsletter is called Intentional Arrangement
Thank you for sharing! You definitely fit! More soon. Thanks again.
Couldn't agree more. You really nailed how these algorithmic platforms contradict themselves. Is 'adaptive infophilia' truely the key to understanding this problem?
Thank you, that’s a rich question.
Short answer: if the “lock” is “How do we understand and resist power that works through digital, affective, always‑on subjectivity?”, then yes—adaptive infophilia can behave like a master key.
Long answer: you can think of adaptive infophilia as a master key within the domain of information experience and engagement, operating at multiple levels (individual, institutional, platform). It lets you connect personal habits, interface design, organizational practice, and civic consequences under one conceptual umbrella, instead of juggling disconnected theories and problems.
For individuals, it offers a unified way to think about your information lifestyle: how you scroll, search, study, react, and emotionally metabolize information across domains and contexts, rather than treating “media literacy,” “news avoidance,” “overload,” etc. as separate issues.
For institutions and platforms, it offers a bridging vocabulary to critique how their designs, policies, incentives, and metrics cultivate particular information lifestyles and suppress others.
(It also helps computing professionals design better systems)
For the specific problem Han is pointing to (psychopolitics—see also my Intellectual Freedom Reimagined trilogy on self‑censorship, data demands, and civic health), where power works through psyche, affect, and “freely chosen” self‑optimisation, adaptive infophilia lines up almost perfectly.
So, bottom line: adaptive infophilia is a master key for the subjective and everyday side of psychopolitics—how it gets into you, and how you can push back to reclaim agency and power over your information styles. It's also a bridging key that connects that subjective level to larger analyses of platforms, capital, and governance, deepening our understanding of where power resides in the information environment and interfacing with other keys to fully explain why these systems exist—and how to change them structurally.
Does this help?
I think my answer would be to appropriate the medical ethics maxim, "Do no harm" and its corollary that information systems need to bring net benefit to the user population (the goal of information is to inform, implying benefit). Adaptive Infophilia stresses that information (in the broadest sense of the word) is to be used for good. Algorithms that feed company bottom lines at the expense of human benefit are in the wrong. This includes making users the product, causing social media addiction, failing to protect abuse of young people, and fostering addictive AI, among many other evils.
Thank you, yes! Adaptive infophilia plus “do no harm" (which sounds like a constraint) actually open up more durable and generative forms of power: 1) It improves signal‑to‑noise for individuals, freeing cognitive and emotional resources to notice patterns, build expertise, and act effectively. 2) It strengthens epistemic cultures (groups’ habits of producing and validating knowledge), reducing echo chambers and fostering cross‑pollination of ideas. 3) It supports platform resistance and redesign, by legitimizing refusal of harmful engagement patterns and pushing for infrastructures that enable non‑weaponized information use.
Thank you so much for the shout out! I am content for my little blog to reach a fairly niche audience. The fact that it can be cited as an example of a broader theme in discourse is high praise. Apparently, I need to utilize the social media features of Substack more!
Wonderful to read and nice to know that you're thriving in your niche—that's healthy infophilia in action: curiosity with discipline and without the exhaustion, with depth, and quality without pressure. That's what adaptive infohilia is all about. And, nope no pressure to use the Notes social media. Keep up the enjoyable long form writing.
I am so honored to be featured here. I also learned about some really great people that I now am planning to follow and learn from.
I honestly did not think I was one of the first librarians to be on here talking about AI and librarianship. So I learned something new tonight. To be even mentioned in the same breath as Reed and Alan is just amazing to me. I am honestly just a school librarian who was interested in AI and its impact on education and librarianship and thought I would write about it. I never thought I would be considered a leader in this field. I am truly honored.
I feel flattered to be included with the likes of Aaron Tay in this excellent post! As Anita notes, I was essentially the first person in library-AI world to start posting on Substack, along with Elissa Malespina. However, Aaron Tay has been posting about this on various platforms I was in high school.
Evidently, I need to be active here on Notes! Go ahead and read my blog and see if you would like to subscribe (it's free to get everything, but you can pay if you like it enough), or suggest topics. Because of the twins, I haven't posted in several months, but I do have 7 posts in the making.
Thank you. I love your transparency and enthusiasm. Enjoy the twins - children grow far too fast!
Re Notes. Adaptive infophilia doesn't prescribe where or how much to engage—it equips you to evaluate platforms relationally: Does this space support your infophilic health (curiosity without exhaustion, regulation, reflection, and depth without pressure)? Or does it push performative, reactive styles that erode it?
Substack Notes, like any platform snippet feature or social media leans psychopolitical: quick hits, reply chains, visibility rewards. This makes niches or silence wiser for true infophiles. Healthier. Saves time. And here's something else to keep in mind: a high reader count doesn't necessarily mean high readership (free or paid). Paid conversions – Substack's rates remain low here.