“I just click whatever pops up first” : young people’s information practices with algorithmic recommender systems
Thesis event information
Date and time of the thesis defence
Place of the thesis defence
L10, Linnanmaa campus
Topic of the dissertation
“I just click whatever pops up first” : young people’s information practices with algorithmic recommender systems
Doctoral candidate
Master of Arts Ville Jylhä
Faculty and unit
University of Oulu Graduate School, Faculty of Humanities, History, Culture and Communication Studies
Subject of study
Information studies
Opponent
Associate professor Alison Hicks, University College London
Custos
Professor Noora Hirvonen, University of Oulu
Young people’s information practices with algorithmic recommender systems
Algorithmic recommender systems are applications or features of applications that aim to provide users with personalised product, content and service recommendations, found on services such as YouTube and Netflix. Such recommendations are practically unavoidable for contemporary users of the web. This thesis aims to develop knowledge on how recommender systems and their affordances shape young people’s information practices and agency by responding to the following research questions:
1. What kinds of affordances do algorithmic recommender systems have for young people’s everyday information practices?
2. How do young people construct and exercise their agency in relation to algorithmic recommender systems within the broader information infrastructure?
3. How do young people reflect on the benefits and harms of algorithmic recommendations?
The research philosophy of this thesis is based on social constructionism, and Giddens’s theory of structuration and socio-cultural theory are used to explain the phenomena at hand. The thesis is composed of a conceptual review and an empirical study based on observational data and interviews with 20 9th grade students in 2021. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
The main findings underline how recommender systems and their affordances enable and encourage their users to delegate the search and evaluation of information to the systems, discourage the diversity of the content and constrain access to certain information. The findings imply that young people tend to exercise their agency by adapting their practices to the platform-logics and how recommender systems often encourage this, and how short-term benefits, such as quick answers and getting relevant content or information, overweigh the potential harms, such as dependency on technology and risks related to handling people’s personal data.
This thesis contributes to the field of library and information science with insights on how recommender systems enable and encourage certain forms of information practices and how recommender systems and their users are mutually constitutive. The findings exemplify how, in the current information ecosystem, end-users are able to benefit from modern information mediators, such as search engines and social media, and practise their own agency only if they adopt and develop their own appropriate information practices.
1. What kinds of affordances do algorithmic recommender systems have for young people’s everyday information practices?
2. How do young people construct and exercise their agency in relation to algorithmic recommender systems within the broader information infrastructure?
3. How do young people reflect on the benefits and harms of algorithmic recommendations?
The research philosophy of this thesis is based on social constructionism, and Giddens’s theory of structuration and socio-cultural theory are used to explain the phenomena at hand. The thesis is composed of a conceptual review and an empirical study based on observational data and interviews with 20 9th grade students in 2021. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
The main findings underline how recommender systems and their affordances enable and encourage their users to delegate the search and evaluation of information to the systems, discourage the diversity of the content and constrain access to certain information. The findings imply that young people tend to exercise their agency by adapting their practices to the platform-logics and how recommender systems often encourage this, and how short-term benefits, such as quick answers and getting relevant content or information, overweigh the potential harms, such as dependency on technology and risks related to handling people’s personal data.
This thesis contributes to the field of library and information science with insights on how recommender systems enable and encourage certain forms of information practices and how recommender systems and their users are mutually constitutive. The findings exemplify how, in the current information ecosystem, end-users are able to benefit from modern information mediators, such as search engines and social media, and practise their own agency only if they adopt and develop their own appropriate information practices.
Created 11.3.2026 | Updated 13.3.2026