an article by Timothy Graham (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) and Paul Henman (The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia) published in Information, Communication & Society Volume 22 Issue 13 (2019)
Abstract
Nowadays, the web offers a world of choice, providing millions of options at the click of a button.
Web-based platforms such as Amazon.com and Yelp.com provide users with a range of tools and functionalities to navigate and compare options within a complex and bewildering landscape of choice. Whilst such websites afford users the feeling of objective and ‘free’ choice, it is also clear that the design features and architecture of websites have strategic affordances for structuring choice in different ways and for particular aims and objectives.
Based on a study of 500 top-ranking websites, in this paper, we argue for a re-evaluation of the relationship between choice and the web, through an examination of the affordances of websites for shaping and governing choice.
Using illustrative examples and drawing on a conceptual framework from previous work, we examine four interconnected aspects of how choice is structured through the affordances of websites.
We discuss the role of algorithms in governing choice through websites, including their role in drawing users into a political economy of choice-making that appears to ‘nudge’ them in particular directions. Websites not only constitute and structure choice, but also presuppose, deploy, and potentially (re)produce the characteristics and capacities of ‘choosers’, and as choosers are not equals this in turn may reproduce and reinforce social inequalities and fissures.
The paper concludes with a reflection on the entangled trajectories of choice and web technologies, and how this might impact our understanding of choice in contemporary society.
Showing posts with label affordances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affordances. Show all posts
Monday, 18 November 2019
Monday, 24 June 2019
“A group that’s just women for women”: Feminist affordances of private Facebook groups for professionals
an article by Urszula Pruchniewska (Temple University, USA) published in New Media & Society Volume 21 Issue 6 (June 2019)
Abstract
Women across a range of industries are creating women-only private Facebook groups for professional support, networking opportunities, and career development.
Through interviews with 26 women, this research shows how private Facebook groups provide affordances for creating spaces reminiscent of second-wave consciousness-raising groups. Within these groups, separate from cisgender men, women discuss their work experiences and share advice, leading to changes for women beyond the groups’ borders. Thus, private Facebook groups for professional women support feminist practices despite not being labeled as explicitly feminist.
However, these activities are limited in their usefulness for the wider feminist project by the exclusion of some women across lines of difference such as race, class, and age. This study illustrates empirically how social media is used for everyday politics, contributing to understandings of the digital fourth wave of the women’s movement.
Abstract
Women across a range of industries are creating women-only private Facebook groups for professional support, networking opportunities, and career development.
Through interviews with 26 women, this research shows how private Facebook groups provide affordances for creating spaces reminiscent of second-wave consciousness-raising groups. Within these groups, separate from cisgender men, women discuss their work experiences and share advice, leading to changes for women beyond the groups’ borders. Thus, private Facebook groups for professional women support feminist practices despite not being labeled as explicitly feminist.
However, these activities are limited in their usefulness for the wider feminist project by the exclusion of some women across lines of difference such as race, class, and age. This study illustrates empirically how social media is used for everyday politics, contributing to understandings of the digital fourth wave of the women’s movement.
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
The social media revolution: Sharing and learning in the age of leaky knowledge
an article by Paul M. Leonardi (Technology Management Program, UC Santa Barbara, United States) published in Information and Organization Volume 27 Issue 1 (March 2017)
Highlights
This paper suggests that social media may be useful for knowledge sharing because they are leaky pipes for communication – the directionality and content of a particular message is visible to people not involved in it.
However, social media are only useful for knowledge sharing if some people contribute knowledge that can leak from them and others retrieve knowledge that is leaking. I draw on interviews with employees from a financial services firm to develop a typology of reasons why new employees would not want to contribute what they know to a social media or retrieve from it knowledge contributed by others.
Then, I use existing theory on knowledge sharing in organizations, coupled with recent writings about social media affordances, to develop propositions about how these barriers to knowledge sharing might be effectively overcome through strategic use of the social media affordances themselves.
Highlights
- Social media are ushering in an era of leaky knowledge,
- Enabling knowledge to leak out from the pipes through which it travels to distant corners of the organization – and to vistas beyond the organization – presents a whole new set of opportunities and challenges for the management of organizational knowledge.
- Yet for such a revolution to occur, individuals need to willingly contribute knowledge by communicating with others through social media and following the communications of others so that they can retrieve knowledge.
- Although the motivation of contribution and retrieval is a perennial obstacle for knowledge sharing, the affordances of the social media that are just now entering many workplaces may provide unique and improved abilities at overcoming these obstacles.
This paper suggests that social media may be useful for knowledge sharing because they are leaky pipes for communication – the directionality and content of a particular message is visible to people not involved in it.
However, social media are only useful for knowledge sharing if some people contribute knowledge that can leak from them and others retrieve knowledge that is leaking. I draw on interviews with employees from a financial services firm to develop a typology of reasons why new employees would not want to contribute what they know to a social media or retrieve from it knowledge contributed by others.
Then, I use existing theory on knowledge sharing in organizations, coupled with recent writings about social media affordances, to develop propositions about how these barriers to knowledge sharing might be effectively overcome through strategic use of the social media affordances themselves.
Monday, 2 July 2012
Investigating user experience in Second Life for collaborative learning
an article by Alistair Sutcliffe and Amal Alrayes (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester) published in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Volume 70 Issue 7 (July 2012)
Abstract
Two studies on collaborative learning in Second Life are reported.
The first is an ecological study of Second Life used in an undergraduate class, by observation, interviews, and limit surveys. Use of Second Life motivated students with good user experience, although they viewed it as a games technology. Second Life was used to prepare virtual meetings and presentations but not for online discussion, with Blackboard and especially Facebook providing collaborative support.
In the second experimental study, the effectiveness and user experience with Second Life and Blackboard were compared, including a face-to-face control condition. There were no performance differences overall, although face-to-face was quicker and was preferred by users, followed by Blackboard and Second Life. Blackboard was perceived to be more usable, whereas Second Life provided a better user experience.
Worst performance was indicated by dislike of avatar interaction in Second Life, and poor user experience in Blackboard, whereas better performance was associated with engagement with avatars, and better usability in Blackboard.
The results of both studies are reviewed using Salmon’s model for online learning, suggesting that Second Life helped motivation and socialisation stages, although integration with other technologies is necessary for knowledge construction. Preliminary guidelines are proposed for configuration and management of Second Life in collaborative learning. The affordances for collaboration in virtual worlds are discussed, with reflections on user experience and functional support provided by Second Life, as an exemplar of a virtual world for collaborative learning support.
Highlights
► Case study of Second Life user experience.
► Experimental comparison of UX in Second Life and Blackboard.
► Review of findings using Salmon’s learning model.
► Guidelines for virtual worlds in collaborative learning.
► Evaluation techniques for UX in virtual worlds.
Abstract
Two studies on collaborative learning in Second Life are reported.
The first is an ecological study of Second Life used in an undergraduate class, by observation, interviews, and limit surveys. Use of Second Life motivated students with good user experience, although they viewed it as a games technology. Second Life was used to prepare virtual meetings and presentations but not for online discussion, with Blackboard and especially Facebook providing collaborative support.
In the second experimental study, the effectiveness and user experience with Second Life and Blackboard were compared, including a face-to-face control condition. There were no performance differences overall, although face-to-face was quicker and was preferred by users, followed by Blackboard and Second Life. Blackboard was perceived to be more usable, whereas Second Life provided a better user experience.
Worst performance was indicated by dislike of avatar interaction in Second Life, and poor user experience in Blackboard, whereas better performance was associated with engagement with avatars, and better usability in Blackboard.
The results of both studies are reviewed using Salmon’s model for online learning, suggesting that Second Life helped motivation and socialisation stages, although integration with other technologies is necessary for knowledge construction. Preliminary guidelines are proposed for configuration and management of Second Life in collaborative learning. The affordances for collaboration in virtual worlds are discussed, with reflections on user experience and functional support provided by Second Life, as an exemplar of a virtual world for collaborative learning support.
Highlights
► Case study of Second Life user experience.
► Experimental comparison of UX in Second Life and Blackboard.
► Review of findings using Salmon’s learning model.
► Guidelines for virtual worlds in collaborative learning.
► Evaluation techniques for UX in virtual worlds.
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