Digital Affordances Research Articles

Overcoming the digital transformation paradoxes: a digital affordance perspective

PurposeExisting studies have been conducted to explain the process of digital transformation. This work aims to identify the paradoxes encountered by companies in undertaking digital transformation and the role of digital affordances in overcoming these paradoxes.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses rich empirical data from four traditional Chinese manufacturers that have successfully achieved digital transformation to explain how companies can overcome the digital transformation paradox with the help of digital affordances.FindingsThe authors identify the paradoxes that traditional companies encounter when carrying out data transformation based on the experience of four Chinese traditional manufacturing enterprises that have successfully achieved digital transformation – the paradox of flexibility and stability of organization structure, the paradox of cost and profit and the paradox of perception between executives and employees. Based on this, we propose three digital affordances that play an important role in overcoming the digital transformation paradoxes – digital decentralization, digital agility and digital citizenship.Originality/valueThis study identifies three forms of critical digital affordances and introduces citizenship into digital transformation contexts.

What gets categorized counts: Controlled vocabularies, digital affordances, and the international digital humanities conference

Abstract This article explores how terms are incorporated into the conference submission and review process for the international digital humanities conference. This article provides an overview of the Alliance for Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) conference reviewing process and how the controlled vocabulary structures the review process. We show how expanding and rethinking the controlled vocabulary can impact the experience of those who submit, review, and attend the conference. We consider how ConfTool, the submission and reviewing portal used for the international digital humanities conference, processes the controlled vocabulary and algorithmically influences the review of submissions. Ultimately, we advocate for the ability to make intentional and careful changes to conference vocabularies including considering the adoption of a formal ontology. We also suggest that changes to the ConfTool algorithm are needed to ensure a diverse and equitable future for digital humanities.

#Instapoetry in India: the aesthetic of the digital vernacular

ABSTRACT This article will study the evolution of Instapoetry within the Indian digital sphere and trace its trajectory of growth and development. It will take a close look at how local and historical issues find expression in a global, digital mediascape through this emerging body of writing. The article further argues that Indian Instapoetry is characterised by a peculiar aesthetic shaped by a combination of ancient traditions of oral poetry and digital affordances of a platform like Instagram. The merger of these influences results in the formation of a digital vernacular mode of expression constituted by a set of thematic and formal poetic devices. Owing to these features, Instapoetry comes into its own as the poetry of the people which echoes their concerns, anxieties and aspirations. At the same time, the digital vernacular facilitates the creation of radical spaces where novel forms of poetic expression and affective engagement are made possible.

Knowledge strategies and digital technologies maturity: effects on small business performance

ABSTRACT Digital technologies are transforming entrepreneurial activities and increasingly impacting the strategies of small businesses, which, given their size, may find it more difficult to withstand such digital challenges. Our study aims to investigate the influence of knowledge strategies and the maturity of digital affordances on the performance of small businesses. Based on a sample of small businesses, a quantitative analysis was performed. From the knowledge-based perspective, types and origin of knowledge strategies were identified – external codification, internal codification, external personalization, and internal personalization. Our results reveal that two knowledge strategies, based on the levels of knowledge intensity and digital systems maturity, impacted performance. In addition, this study attempts to help entrepreneurs, managers, and other policymakers formulate a more appropriate knowledge strategy based on the existing contingencies between combinations of external and internal digital technologies.

Touchable pixels: Examining the affordance effect between an on-screen object and a user-elicited gesture on the touchscreen

Touching a smartphone screen is one of the most frequent activities in our everyday life. These touch gestures have recently been investigated under the user-centered approach, which collects gestures proposed by end-users. Despite its advantages in cognitive and behavioral performance, these gestural studies neglect the effect of visual properties of interface objects, i.e., digital affordances. This study aims to explore the effect of digital affordances on the screen through two sequential studies. In the preliminary study, an online questionnaire and interview were conducted to investigate user-defined gestures. Twenty participants responded to the survey to select the most appropriate gesture in the combination between four functions and five gestures for eight stimuli manipulated in several visual properties. The collected gestures for each function were statistically compared in terms of visual properties. In the main study, a behavioral experiment was conducted to examine the object-based correspondence effect. Twenty-six participants executed real touch gestures on the eight stimuli, and the gestural response time was collected to compare corresponding and non-corresponding conditions between gestures and stimuli. The results of both the preliminary and main studies indicated significant effects of visual properties in gesture execution. We concluded that digital affordance exists on the touchscreen; furthermore, it has unique characteristics grounded on the hybrid materiality of a digital environment consisting of both hardware and software. The new findings on digital affordance can be summarized as 1) a digital entity is perceived as freely manipulable regardless of physical laws, 2) a visuo-perceptible entity can be only perceptually constrained by other visual obstacles, and 3) the gestural priority depends on the embodied direction inherent in particular content. This study contributes theoretically to a better understanding of digital affordance and practically designing touch gestures based on the characteristics of affordances on the screen.

Double blue ticks: Reframing ghosting as ostracism through an abductive study on affordances

Ghosting is a slang term associated with ceasing mediated communication to dissolve a romantic relationship. The phenomenon is discussed in popular culture and scientific inquiry in relation to digital communication technologies and mobile dating, but little is known about ghosting in other relationship types and the role of specific affordances. This study investigated personal experiences of ghosting with an abductive approach to consider alternative frameworks which may enhance our understanding of ghosting. We collected 23 episodic interviews with Italians aged 21 to 34 and analyzed data with a qualitative abductive approach. Findings suggest that ghosting takes place in different relationship types, though its detection and effects may differ, and that digital affordances of visibility like awareness cues, informing about others’ availability, play a central role in detection of ghosting. We propose that theories of ostracism provide a useful framework to understand the dynamic of ghosting across relational contexts, complementing existing literature.

Evaluating Affordance-Based Opportunities: A Conjoint Experiment of Corporate Venture Capital Managers’ Decision-Making

We integrate opportunity evaluation reasoning with affordance theory to develop a nuanced theoretical model of action orientation in entrepreneurial decision-making. We test our model with a conjoint experiment of 864 decisions made by 54 corporate venture capital (CVC) managers evaluating digital ventures for investment. Our findings provide evidence that CVC managers value two sources of digital affordances: the recombinability and the reprogrammability of digital technologies. The results show that CVC managers individuate affordance-based investment opportunities based on their personal and organizational background. We contribute to a fine-grained understanding of action potentials in the evaluation of opportunities and advance affordance theory through a cognitive judgment perspective.

Playful and Meaningful Learning of Programming. What does it Take to Integrate an App-Based Game Promoting Digital Mathematics into Early Childhood Education?

<p class="designartikelbrdtext">This article shows conditions for how an educational digital tool can open doors to an increasingly playful world – and address some of the issues with introducing digital maths in early childhood education. Guided by a design-based research approach, the multimodal design of the educational app-based game DigiMat was iteratively created by a multidisciplinary team and introduced to teachers and children. In this study, we focused on transformative processes to illuminate conditions for meaningful <em>design for learning</em>, based on what teachers reported in interventions. In addition, we considered children’s play with the app-based game, which elucidated the conditions for <em>design in learning</em>. We performed thematic analysis and applied the Learning Design Sequence model to illuminate notions from critical incidents with children and teachers. The findings indicate that, although children <em>re-design</em> and create their purpose whilst playing, beyond digital affordances, teachers needed an explicit alignment with the curriculum to integrate meaningful and guided play with the use of DigiMat. This study indicates that designers and innovators wishing to introduce playful apps into educational practice should consider how learning outcomes and playful activities resonate with educational practice. Based on our findings, we argue that digital educational tools should be designed and implemented collaboratively with teachers and children, in a didactic context where the goals of the curriculum are recognised.

Affording worker solidarity in motion: Theorising the intersection between social media and agential practices in the platform economy

Worker solidarity is a recurring theme in the digital labour debate. While recent studies of the on-demand platforms contribute to highlighting digital affordances in fostering solidarity among gig workers, few have explored how this works in depth and offered a theoretically informed evaluation of this potential. This study of Didi drivers in China fills this gap by looking at how agential practices amplify or constrain the effects of digital communication. We contribute to constructing a mediated framework of affordances for association, for discourse and for mobilisation to examine the process of fostering worker solidarity. Increasingly under structural constraints of platform control and state surveillance on labour activism, this article discloses the theoretical puzzle of ‘solidarity in question’ by rooting the agential practices firmly in the analysis of workers’ gender, migratory status, work experience and critical media literacy, and how they intersect with the tactical appropriation of social media to create potential.

How digital devices transform literary reading: The impact of e-books, audiobooks and online life on reading habits

Literary reading is under transformation. Digital devices supplement traditional paper books with e-books and audiobooks, and at the same time, ubiquitous digital connection challenges focused reading. Based on a qualitative interview study with adult leisure readers, this article explores how affordances offered by digital technologies influence reading habits. Informants demonstrate how e-books and audiobooks enhance reading experiences, as digital affordances influence the how and the when of literary consumption. Three prominent findings are stated. (1) Readers adapt reading mode to the situation, and experienced readers have developed strategies to maximise the ultimate combination of title, format and reading conditions. (2) Digital reading favours lighter texts. This dimension is more substantial for audiobooks, relating to the wide choice of combining audiobooks with other activities. (3) Being devoted readers motivates people to develop strategies to ensure further reading. These strategies effectively make readers practically and temporally disconnect to immerse in literature.

SELF-REPRESENTATION THROUGH ONLINE IDENTITIES: A CDA OF OFFICIAL WEBSITES OF PAKISTANI UNIVERSITIES

Virtual world of Internet has provided a dynamic virtual space to the organizations like universities to represent themselves to a wider audience in a fast manner as well as construct desired online identities. In this article, we examined linguistic features in Pakistani universities’ websites and explored the ways Pakistani universities make use of virtual space to construct certain preferred online identities in and around organization. The use of digital affordances such as anonymity and visibility in these websites add to the preferred self-representation of the universities. Eight Pakistani universities’ websites are selected for analysis using purposive sampling technique. The study employs critical discourse analysis and follows a three-dimensional analysis including textual analysis, process analysis and social analysis. The findings indicate that Pakistani universities’ websites are highly affected due to social changes such as globalization and commercialization of education. These websites are developed with a common purpose of constructing global identity, display international standard and high reputation among other universities as well as attract potential students. The analysis further revealed that these websites are a medium to construct various desired individual and collective online identities. Such diversified web-based constructs of university identities allow themselves to portrayal of both prominent as well as distinguished among all. As an outcome, the choice of website audience (who is not limited to students rather faculty, employees, and donors), regarding their future endeavors is influenced. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, online identity construction, Pakistani universities websites, homepage, linguistic features, visibility through digital affordances.

Pathways to developing information technology-enabled capabilities in born-digital new ventures

Despite significant business opportunities made possible through advancements in technology, readily available digital technologies are often overlooked and not used by new ventures. To address this knowledge gap, this paper looks at the relationships between readily available digital technologies and born-digital new venture capabilities. We use an affordance lens to explore conditions in which born-digital new ventures interact with digital technologies to actualize digital affordances that facilitate the development of important capabilities. First, using the existing literature, we present a research model and its key elements. Then, using data on new ventures in a Canadian university incubator, we conduct fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and develop seven configurational research propositions as pathways to develop information technology-enabled organizational capabilities in new ventures. Using this retroductive approach, this research builds a context-specific middle-range theory that explains complex interactions between readily available digital technologies and new venture characteristics, where resources are provided by incubators in dynamic environments, to facilitate the development of ITOCs in the new ventures. We close by describing the study’s theoretical and practical implications.

Algorithmic Analysis of Political Tweets: A Systematic Literature Review

This study investigates the trends and challenges in information science with a special focus on political tweets. The past decade has witnessed a transformation in information mining, extraction and production using algorithms on social media platforms. The unique data structure of Twitter has gained scholarly attention for its intelligence to produce voluminous information which is convenient and rapid. But the efficiency of Twitter as a platform to obtain political knowledge remains a question. Various socio-technological research methods have emerged making Twitter an integrated topic of study for scholars from media studies, computer science and information science. The big data environment provides hashtags, @-mentions, and various digital affordances necessitating its study to be an integral part of social science research. Thus, the systematic literature review aims to examine tweeting patterns of political leaders to study variables such as ideology diffusion, polarization, political issues, digital campaigns etc. The study also examines computational research methods to retrieve Twitter data pertaining to political information. Academic investigation consists of approaches to automated data collection on Twitter, pre-processing techniques using R and Python, machine learning procedures and sentiment analysis used on Twitter data. The study showcases India’s stand in adopting the niche socio-technological methods in social science research.

Digital media ‘changes the game’: investigating digital affordances impacts on sex crime and policing in the 21st century

ABSTRACT With society becoming increasingly digital, new opportunities are afforded to potential offenders to weaponize digital features and affordances to carry out their crimes. As a result, concerns persist over online forms of crime, particularly cybercrime involving sexual exploitation, and what can be done about them. Drawing on interview and focus group data collected from 70 sex crime investigators from police service organizations across Canada, we uncover police perspectives on online sex-based crime. We demonstrate that police perceive online crimes to not necessarily be new forms of crime, but rather altered by digital media in terms of methods and weapons being used. We focus on uncovering the features and affordances police identify as contributing to the increase in crime itself as well as the creation of greater opportunities for crime to occur. In addition, resulting from crime shifting into digital spaces, we uncover the challenges digital media has presented for police in terms of how they handle, respond to, and investigate online crime. We discuss these challenges and their impact on policing and provide solutions for combatting them moving forward. Overall, this article contributes to the current body of literature investigating online crime and policing in the digital age by drawing on the theoretical framework of affordances and offering police perspectives on online sex-based crimes.

Digital African Literatures and the Coloniality of Data

AbstractDigital iterations of African literary texts present scholarly opportunities to interrogate how literature produced and circulated on digital media becomes entangled with the capitalist politics of datafication. In the data paradigm described in the article, literary representations are subject to the workings of neoliberal capital and the constraints of algorithmic systems. Through a postcolonial approach that puts the digital humanities in conversation with African literary studies, the article transcends how digital technologies have evidently changed African literature and tackles the costs of digital literary cultures and networks from Africa. I examine data relations through an African literary culture, which, in the current moment, indisputably exhibits the attainment of new and complex elements including the integration of digital affordances in the production and critical reception of texts. How African literary expressions in a digital age circulate in market-driven digital platforms like Facebook and YouTube makes the subjects of data capitalism or the coloniality of data as important for African literature as the expanded literary networks enabled by the digital.

How Do Corporate Venture Capitalists Evaluate Digital Technology Ventures? A Conjoint Analysis

Drawing upon affordance theory, this study analyzes how corporate venture capital (CVC) investment managers evaluate digital technology ventures for investment. We argue that affordances, namely action potentials that arise from the relation between CVC investors and digital technology ventures, determine investment decision-making. Our study uses experimental data from a conjoint analysis of 432 investment decisions made by 54 CVC investment managers representing 44 CVC units from 34 industries. We find that CVC investment managers value characteristics of digital technology ventures that give rise to digital affordances as well as task-sharing affordances. Our findings show that CVC investment managers’ prior digital technology experience, entrepreneurial experience, and perceived CVC unit dependence on business units influence the interpretation of affordances, and thus the evaluation of investment opportunities. Our study contributes to the understanding of CVC investment decisions and extends affordance theory by a decision-making perspective.

Digitally mediated communication and school-based sex education in the USA

ABSTRACT Digital technology has become central to how adolescents explore their developing sexuality and form relationships with peers, including romantic and sexual relationships. Interviews with 110 high school and college students in the Northeastern USA identified how digitally mediated communication is a fundamental part of adolescent flirtation practices, with young people making use of digital affordances to mitigate the interpersonal risks associated with flirtation. The ‘screen’ is seen as a protective barrier against the emotional vulnerability and embarrassment that can occur during in-person flirtation. Gender and sexual minority youth also appreciate how digitally mediated intimacy protects them from threats to physical safety in a hetero-patriarchal world. By contrast, adults perceive cell phones and social media as sites of risk for young people. Teenagers are portrayed in the media as the hapless victims of technology rather than agentic creators of digital sexual cultures. Their digital interactions, especially when sexual in nature, are highly regulated and subject to social control. This focus on technological risk blinds educators to exploring the ways in which new technology is integrated into adolescents’ socio-sexual lives. To be effective, school-based sex education must engage creatively with the role of digitally mediated communication in adolescents’ romantic and sexual lives.

Digital affordances and remote public audit practice

AbstractAs public sector organizations are undergoing a digital transformation, public auditing is increasingly relying on technology to enable it to collect and analyze large amounts of data. We analyze how the introduction and development of digital artifacts in a governmental audit setting end up affording audit practices. Focusing on the introduction of computer‐assisted audit tools and techniques (CAATTs) developed by Courts of Accounts in Brazil, our findings indicate that the digital infrastructure maintained by each Court in Brazil is the material center of a dominant frame of remote compliance audit practice. Besides CAATTs’ interface, scripts and algorithms in the infrastructure's backstage also add to the affordance of the digital devices used by auditors—that is, auditors’ action possibilities molded by technology. Through interviews with governmental auditors, we provide evidence on how CAATTs afford their practices while showing that auditors are not fully aware of how their skepticism and autonomy are being affected by the introduction of such devices and by the reinforcement of remote audit practice.

Perceived gain or loss? How digital affordances influence employee corporate entrepreneurship participation likelihood

AbstractBased on conservation of resources theory, this paper examines the mediating mechanisms in the relationship between digital affordances and employee corporate entrepreneurship participation likelihood. Findings from an experimental study with 207 employees show a statistically significant and positive indirect effect of digital affordances on employee corporate entrepreneurship participation likelihood through employee‐perceived information technology support for innovation and a statistically significant and—contrary to our expectations—positive indirect effect through employee‐perceived work overload. Results are corroborated by insights from in‐depth interviews with senior managers. They provide support for digital affordances as action potentials that are associated with resource gains that in turn foster employee corporate entrepreneurship participation likelihood.

Critical digital literacy in virtual exchange for ELT teacher education: An interpretivist methodology

AbstractVirtual exchange (VE) is an ideal venue for digital literacy skills development (Fuchs, Hauck &amp; Müller-Hartmann, 2012) and for critical digital literacy (CDL) (Hauck, 2019). Yet literacy is a fluid, deictic term, the meaning of which is context dependent, and digital literacies need to be defined and conceptualised within a specific context. Recent CALL literature highlights the interest in CDL from various perspectives, but how CDL is conceptualised by the VE participants themselves is not explored. Participants of this study were 37 trainee English language teachers in the UK and Turkey who joined a 6-week VE. Their ongoing reflections on CDL were captured through reflective e-portfolio entries following each VE task. Thematic analysis revealed four components of CDL in this specific VE: (1) participants’ awareness of digital affordances for self-expression, (2) semiotic and interactional means to build connections, (3) ensuring inclusiveness of all community members, and (4) implications of socio-political contexts of each participant for meaning-making and interaction. We conclude that in future pedagogical implementations of VE, facilitators can foster trainee teachers’ CDL development through more closely guided and informed reflection on the four themes presented in this paper. As such, this study makes a novel contribution to our understanding of CDL in VE settings for ELT teacher education by offering a social semiotic second language acquisition orientation within an interpretivist paradigm.