Infostructure, Technology, and Organization

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-177
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Process Ontology ◽  
Computer Mediated

The chapter discusses informing structure (infostructure)—the formal and stable patterns of relationships between data segments and in information technology (IT) arrangements. Infostructure parallels and complements the formal social structure of organization. The discussion covers infostructure dimensions and their role in changing organizational structure. The infostructure of big data is explained. Informal organizational structure is, then, discussed in the context of computer mediated communication (CMC) and social media. Social media are framed as a type of business, and a new concept of social media is proposed. The chapter also discusses technology and IT from the perspectives of organization theory and IS. Various ontologies of IT and information systems are reviewed, including currently popular sociomateriality and critical realism. A new model based on the emergent process ontology is described, and the potential of human agency is argued.

Infostructure

2014 ◽  
pp. 107-141
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
New Information ◽  
Informal Structure

This chapter introduces the topic of informing structure (infostructure). Infostructure refers to stable patterns of relationships between data segments and in information technology arrangements. Infostructure parallels and complements the formal social structure of organization. The discussion covers infostructure dimensions called infohierarchy, infocentralization, infoformalization, infodispersion, and infofragmentation. It is argued that changes in infostructure introduced by new information systems (IS) are indispensable for changing organizational structure and often spearhead it. Extremes in some infostructural dimensions can indicate problems in organizational structure. The perspective of informal organizational structure is equally important. It has regained importance with the advent of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and social media. Informal structure can be identified via network theory and analysis, and the perspective of infostructure can assist in such an investigation. The chapter also discusses technology and its information technology (IT) branch. It is argued that organization scholars think of technology in broad, abstract terms, blending it into a larger social frame of transformational process. This approach typically does not address specific information technologies, with an exception made in hi-tech research. In contrast, IS scholars usually think of information technologies in reference to computers, deploying materialistic and social ontologies. The chapter closes by discussing the IVO concept of IT. IT is defined as part of IS as materialized in terms of tools, devices, and machines whose purpose is to manipulate data. The IS stance is appropriate for discussing ontologies of IT. In particular, discussed are ontologies of technological imperative, strategic choice (action), cognition, institution, structuration, and emerging process.

The impact of information technology on knowledge creation

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wagner ◽  
Gabriele Vollmar ◽  
Heinz-Theo Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline the potential of information technology, particularly social media and their affordances, in supporting knowledge creation within organizations. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper which integrates the literature on both knowledge creation and social media. Findings – Social media may support knowledge creation by affording new types behaviors that were not possible with previous forms of computer-mediated communication. Research limitations/implications – The paper contributes to theory development by integrating knowledge creation theory and addressing the role of technology, more specifically social media and their affordances, in the knowledge creation process. Practical implications – The results of the paper will help managers to understand which social media affordances support the distinct knowledge creation processes and target their use of technologies within the organization accordingly. Originality/value – The paper is of high theoretical and practical relevance. It bridges two previously unconnected literatures and, in doing so, provides an innovative perspective on how social media and their affordances may support knowledge creation.

scholarly journals Catch 22: The Paradox of Social Media Affordances and Stigmatized Online Support Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630512098447
Author(s):  
Daphna Yeshua-Katz ◽  
Ylva Hård af Segerstad
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Online Support Groups ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Computer Mediated

This study highlights the challenges of computer-mediated communication for vulnerable individuals and groups, by studying boundary work in stigmatized communities online. Five stigmatized online communities with different affordances were studied: (1) “pro-ana” blogs; (2) an infertility discussion board; (3) a Facebook group for bereaved parents; and (4) two WhatsApp groups for Israeli veterans of war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In-depth interviews with members and administrators ( n = 66) revealed that social media affordances such as low anonymity and high visibility may marginalize those living with stigma. While research literature applauds social media for allowing the formation and maintenance of social capital, our study highlights the paradox caused by these very same affordances. To offer safe and functioning environments of support, the communities must guard against impostors whose presence threatens their safe havens. Simultaneously, this may make these groups inaccessible to those who truly need support and remove such groups from the public eye.

If Pandora had a Blog

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-32
Author(s):  
Otilia Pacea
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Political Blogs ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Mediated Discourse ◽  
Digital Landscape

In the context of internet genre migration and proliferation, conventional taxonomies are no longer valid. To classify blogs between thematic and personal blogs is to blissfully ignore the legions of successful content prosumers, from political blogs to travel blogs, from food blogs to MAD (mom and dad) blogs, from fashion blogs to milblogs. With the recent explosion of social media, the digital landscape shifted and today there are more voices online than ever before. For blogs, however, the original purpose for communication has always been twofold: to inform and to emote. Computer-mediated communication may be overpopulated with a myriad of mixed forms and blogs might be dead or simply, difficult to reach with so much overlapping. Yet high-impact blogs still remain and are widely read. This paper explores the language of high-impact blogs, testing a new methodology for genre analysis to solve genre hybridity in the case of computer-mediated discourse.

scholarly journals Word Shortening Strategies: Egyptian vs. Non-Egyptian English Tweets

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Iman Mohamed Mahfouz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Parallel Corpora ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Message Length ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Media Platform

The language of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) is known to deviate from standard language in many ways dictated by the characteristics of the medium in order to achieve brevity, speed as well as innovation. Together with the intrinsic features of CMC in general, the character limitation imposed by the popular social media platform, Twitter has triggered the use of a number of linguistic devices including shortening strategies in addition to unconventional spelling and grammar. Using two parallel corpora of English tweets written by Egyptians and non-Egyptians on a similar hashtag, the study attempts to compare the shortening strategies used in both datasets. A taxonomy for orthographic and morphological shortening strategies was adapted from Thurlow and Brown (2003) and Denby (2010) with particular focus on message length, punctuation, clipping, abbreviations, contractions, alphanumeric homophones and accent stylization. Given the scarcity of linguistic studies conducted on Egyptian tweets despite the vast amount of data they offer, the study compares the findings about tweets written by Egyptians in English as a foreign language to previous studies. The findings suggest that Egyptians tend to omit punctuation more frequently, whereas non-Egyptians favor abbreviations, contractions and clipped forms. The results also indicate that Twitter may be shifting towards longer messages while at the same time increasingly employing more shortening strategies. The study also reveals that character limitation is not the only factor shaping language use on Twitter since not all linguistic choices are governed by brevity of communication.

The Role of Computer-Mediated Communication

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
Bolanle A. Olaniran ◽  
Natasha Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Corporate Training ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Organizational Training ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Computer Mediated

The use of information technology to enhance classroom learning and deliver corporate training is the latest trend and focus of much research in the computer-mediated communication (CMC) and development industry. Technological advances continue to alter the various ways in which academic and organizational training is facilitated and conducted. This paper presents a review of the available literature and trends in CMC, specifically, CMC’s theoretical approaches, types/roles, benefits/disadvantages, and contributions to academic institutions and corporate organizations. The authors also provide a discussion of future trends and implications in this subject.

scholarly journals Computer-Mediated Communication in Adults With and Without Moderate-to-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Survey of Social Media Use (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily L Morrow ◽  
Fangyun Zhao ◽  
Lyn Turkstra ◽  
Catalina Toma ◽  
Bilge Mutlu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
History Of

BACKGROUND Individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) report fewer social contacts, less social participation, and more social isolation than noninjured peers. Cognitive-communication disabilities may prevent individuals with TBI from accessing the opportunities for social connection afforded by computer-mediated communication, as individuals with TBI report lower overall usage of social media than noninjured peers and substantial challenges with accessibility and usability. Although adaptations for individuals with motor and sensory impairments exist to support social media use, there have been no parallel advances to support individuals with cognitive disabilities, such as those exhibited by some people with TBI. In this study, we take a preliminary step in the development process by learning more about patterns of social media use in individuals with TBI as well as their input and priorities for developing social media adaptations. OBJECTIVE This study aims to characterize how and why adults with TBI use social media and computer-mediated communication platforms, to evaluate changes in computer-mediated communication after brain injury, and to elicit suggestions from individuals with TBI to improve access to social media after injury. METHODS We conducted a web-based survey of 53 individuals with a chronic history of moderate-to-severe TBI and a demographically matched group of 51 noninjured comparison peers. RESULTS More than 90% of participants in both groups had an account on at least one computer-mediated communication platform, with Facebook and Facebook Messenger being the most popular platforms in both groups. Participants with and without a history of TBI reported that they use Facebook more passively than actively and reported that they most frequently maintain web-based relationships with close friends and family members. However, participants with TBI reported less frequently than noninjured comparison participants that they use synchronous videoconferencing platforms, are connected with acquaintances on the web, or use social media as a gateway for offline social connection (eg, to find events). Of the participants with TBI, 23% (12/53) reported a change in their patterns of social media use caused by brain injury and listed concerns about accessibility, safety, and usability as major barriers. CONCLUSIONS Although individuals with TBI maintain social media accounts to the same extent as healthy comparisons, some may not use them in a way that promotes social connection. Thus, it is important to design social media adaptations that address the needs and priorities of individuals with TBI, so they can also reap the benefits of social connectedness offered by these platforms. By considering computer-mediated communication as part of individuals’ broader social health, we may be able to increase web-based participation in a way that is meaningful, positive, and beneficial to broader social life.

scholarly journals Computer-Mediated Communication, Social Media, and Mental Health: A Conceptual and Empirical Meta-Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 009365022095822
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Meta Review

Computer-mediated communication (CMC), and specifically social media, may affect the mental health (MH) and well-being of its users, for better or worse. Research on this topic has accumulated rapidly, accompanied by controversial public debate and numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Yet, a higher-level integration of the multiple disparate conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH and individual review findings is desperately needed. To this end, we first develop two organizing frameworks that systematize conceptual and operational approaches to CMC and MH. Based on these frameworks, we integrate the literature through a meta-review of 34 reviews and a content analysis of 594 publications. Meta-analytic evidence, overall, suggests a small negative association between social media use and MH. However, effects are complex and depend on the CMC and MH indicators investigated. Based on our conceptual review and the evidence synthesis, we devise an agenda for future research in this interdisciplinary field.

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and social media corpora: Introduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-162
Author(s):  
Reinhild Vandekerckhove ◽  
Lisa Hilte ◽  
Darja Fišer ◽  
Walter Daelemans
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated
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