Editor-in-Chief Lecture
Author
Professor, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz,, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Purpose: This Editor’s Note seeks to explain the transition from protest to violence during the events of January 2026 in Iran from the perspective of Generation Z’s Social and Collaborative Information-Seeking. The text aims to demonstrate how patterns of information interaction within an information-saturated ecosystem can redirect collective action from civic demands toward violence. The primary focus is not political judgment, but rather an analysis of the informational mechanisms influencing individual and collective decision-making among young people.
Methodology: The article adopts an analytical–interpretive approach grounded in Shah’s (2017) theoretical framework of Social and Collaborative Information-Seeking. In addition to reviewing international scholarship on the infodemic, misinformation and disinformation, and networked collective action, the study draws upon empirical data from a university-based field study on Generation Z’s information behavior (a sample of 368 undergraduate students at the University of Tabriz). These data were collected in September 2025, prior to the January 2026 events, and therefore provide a non-reactive depiction of the ordinary information behavior patterns of young adults.
Findings: The findings indicate that Generation Z demonstrates high levels of informational activity and interaction, yet exhibits relative weakness in analytical information use, flexibility of participatory roles, and the strength of stable social ties. The combination of high activity, rapid decision-making, weak social bonds, and network-driven emotional pressure can create conditions conducive to the rapid transition from protest to violence. A strong sensitivity to social justice, when confronted with polarized narratives or disinformation, may generate cognitive vulnerability. These patterns suggest that the recent crisis was less a purely political phenomenon and more a reflection of instability within the informational ecosystem.
Conclusion: The analysis demonstrates that the quality of information and the manner in which it is utilized directly affect the quality of social action. In the absence of critical information literacy and effective information governance mechanisms, digital participation may reproduce emotionally driven and high-cost cycles of collective behavior. Managing social crises in the networked age requires strengthening critical thinking, enhancing transparency of official information, establishing institutionalized channels for youth participation, and rebuilding authentic social bonds. The central challenge is not Generation Z’s presence within digital networks, but rather the absence of structures capable of channeling their informational energy toward responsible civic action.
Value: By linking the theory of Social and Collaborative Information-Seeking Behavior to a contemporary social event, this article offers a novel framework for analyzing collective violence in the digital age. Its contribution lies in shifting the discussion from political contestation to informational architecture and the cognitive mechanisms shaping youth behavior. This approach may inform educational, cultural, and information governance policymaking in networked societies and contribute to a preventive understanding of future crises.
Keywords
- Generation Z
- Social and Collaborative Information Seeking
- Information-Saturated Ecosystem
- Transition from Protest to Violence
- Infodemic
- Disinformation
- Collective Action in the Digital Age
- Critical Information Literacy
- Iran's January 2026 Protests
Main Subjects
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