人肉搜索初探

Abstract

近年來，人肉搜索已成社會矚目之新興現象。人肉搜索是網路使用者協力搜尋特定個人身份資訊或事件真相的集體行動，本文首先回顧現有中英文相關學術文獻，歸納其定義、沿革、與特性，接著介紹人肉搜索的社會脈絡、參與動機、搜索歷程與行為、檢索策略等。本文續彙整傳播學、社會學、與文化研究等領域作者對人肉搜索的學理探討與詮釋，並由實徵論文中擷取與資訊學較相關的研究發現。最後，本文建議未來研究可將人肉搜索視為資訊尋求行為探討之，並應強化研究設計與實徵證據基礎。

Human Flesh Search (HFS) is a recent popular Internet phenomenon that attracts social attention. HFS is collaborative information search conducted by voluntary Internet users to identify specific persons or to uncover the truth of controversial events. This paper reviews the existing Chinese and English scholarly papers on HFS and discusses on the definitions, development, and characteristics of HFS, followed by a summary of HFS’s social contexts, motivations for participation, search processes and behavior, and search strategies as described or reported in the existing literature. It also introduces a list of theories that have been applied in HFS discussions from the perspectives of communication, sociology, and cultural studies. This paper then reports findings from the currently limited empirical studies that are of interest to information science research. Based on the review, the author recommends that future research may study HFS as an information-seeking behavior and should enhance the quality of research design.