Affordances Of Platforms Research Articles

‘22 Push-Ups for a Cause’: Depicting the Moral Self via Social Media Campaign #Mission22

In 2016, the online cause #Mission22 went viral on social media. Established to raise awareness about high suicide rates among US military veterans, the campaign involves users posting a video of themselves doing 22 push-ups for 22 days, and on some platforms, to donate and recruit others to do the same. Based on a ‘big data’ analysis of Twitter data (over 225,883 unique tweets) during the height of the campaign, this article uses #Mission22 as a site in which to analyse how people depict, self-represent and self-tell as moral subjects using social media campaigns. In addition to spotlighting how such movements are mobilised to portray moral selves in particular ways, the analysis focuses on how a specific online cause like #Mission22 becomes popularly supported from a plethora of possible causes and how this selection and support is shaped by online networks. We speculate that part of the reason why Mission22 went ‘viral’ in the highly competitive attention economies of social media environments was related to visual depictions of affective bodily, fitness and moral practices.

Chinese youth performing identities and navigating belonging online

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the experiences of belonging of young Chinese internet users through an analysis of their online identity practices. Drawing on a qualitative research project about online citizenship practices of 31 young Chinese citizens from mainland China, I explore their experiences of belonging on two online platforms (Weibo and WeChat) and the identities formed and sustained through these experiences. The results show that young people experience different senses of belonging in different social media spaces. Their strategies in navigating these experiences are informed by (a) their perceptions of online spaces as private or public, and (b) using online identity performance as a supplement to or escape from identities in physical life. I argue that young Chinese internet users experience different senses of belonging by flexibly appropriating the affordances of social media platforms for communication and networking; these senses of belonging play a key role in forming and sustaining their identities, and are crucial for their wellbeing.

Co-innovation platform affordances

PurposeThe importance of co-innovation platforms has been well established, but a valid and reliable instrument to measure the affordances of these platforms for co-innovation behavior has not yet been reported in the literature. A robust, validated instrument to measure co-innovation platform affordances (PAs) will facilitate the conduct of studies across different platforms and contribute to enhanced understanding of co-innovation behaviors, outcomes, and platform design. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize co-innovation PAs, develop a reliable measurement instrument capturing critical facets of co-innovation, namely ideation, collaboration, and communication, and validate the instrument.Design/methodology/approachThe construct of PAs was conceptualized based on the findings from two case studies of co-innovation networks and the key characteristics of social mediating technology affordances. The measurement items newly developed via a case study underwent a two-round exploratory analysis to ensure face validity and content validity. The resulting instrument was subjected to a pilot study and a field study to establish the necessary reliability and validity.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal that co-innovation PAs have three distinctive components, namely ideation, collaboration, and communication. Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that PAs are most appropriately operationalized as a second-order construct comprising all three components. The empirical results from the field study show a high degree of confidence in both translation validity and criterion-related validity.Originality/valueDrawing from co-innovation and affordances literature, this study develops and validates a general instrument to measure co-innovation PAs. The result is a reliable and parsimonious instrument with 12 items. The authors believe that the instrument can contribute significantly to future empirical investigations of co-innovation behavior on virtual platforms.

Counter-Discourse Activism on Social Media: The Case of Challenging \u201cPoverty Porn\u201d Television

In this paper we investigate how online counter-discourse is designed, deployed and orchestrated by activists to challenge dominant narratives around socio-political issues. We focus on activism related to the UK broadcast media’s negative portrayal of welfare benefit claimants; portrayals characterised as “poverty porn” by critics. Using critical discourse analysis, we explore two activist campaigns countering the TV programme Benefits Street. Through content analysis of social media, associated traditional media texts, and interviews with activists, our analysis highlights the way activists leverage the specific technological affordances of different social media and other online platforms in order to manage and configure counter-discourse activities. We reveal how activists use different platforms to carefully control and contest discursive spaces, and the ways in which they utilise both online and offline activities in combination with new and broadcast media to build an audience for their work. We discuss the challenges associated with measuring the success of counter-discourse, and how activists rely on combinations of social media analytics and anecdotal feedback in order to ascertain that their campaigns are successful. We also discuss the often hidden power-relationships in such campaigns, especially where there is ambiguity regarding the grassroots legitimacy of activism, and where effort is placed into controlling and owning the propagation of counter-discourse. We conclude by highlighting a number of areas for further work around the blurred distinctions between corporate advocacy, digilantism and grassroots activism.

The problem of multimodality

This article investigates the writing mode, multimodal aspects, and folksonomic elements of digital composition gathered from a WordPress-based ePortfolio platform.* Focusing on the student perspective, data was gathered through both surveys of first year students and text analysis of digital compositions in order to produce quantitative results that can be replicated and aggregated. This research demonstrates the impact of assignment design and platform affordances on student composition practices. Results show that incoming students do not fit the "digital native" myth, nor are they prepared to engage in digital scholarship at the college level without significant guidance and specific requirements that scaffold digital work.

Social Multimedia Computing: An Emerging Area of Research and Business for Films

We survey and analyze the relationship between ‘social media’ landscape and the ‘over-the-top’ film industry and provide a new market overview of how distinctive media platforms are leveraging each other features as part of their business model. With an elevated penetration of mass-market over the top (OTT) services and coexistence of several business models and value chains that need to be proven, our findings suggest that new entrants, to stand apart, will have to experiment new business models and with multimedia integration of content and services; and, unless they establish new niche services to communities of interest it will be difficult for them to differentiate their offerings and survive. Developing a social content network that connects people socially through films can offer media entrepreneurs and the ‘world film’ industry with a stable business model and a new window of opportunity in their competition for market share. By clarifying the boundaries and affordances of distinct OTT and social media platforms, the present research sustains that coupling video streaming and social networking is the future. It further bears that social multimedia computing should be used to capture and leverage the social activity and interaction of users in order to understand the drivers and trends in the film industry. Finally, it provides a direction for online world films.

Shielding or engaging: the use of online shareholder platforms in investor relations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze antecedents of listed corporations’ propensity to adopt online shareholder platforms. It differentiates two strategic investor relations (IR) frames, shielding and engaging, and explores their effect on ICT adoption.Design/methodology/approachFindings are based on a survey of 82 corporations listed on the Swiss, German and Austrian stock exchanges. The authors apply multiple linear regression analysis to test a multi-faceted adoption model.FindingsThe authors find that resource constraints, familiarity with online media and efficiency considerations drive listed corporations’ willingness to adopt online shareholder platforms. Beyond these operational antecedents, strategic considerations significantly affect adoption: IR functions geared toward shareholder engagement are more likely to apply interactive platforms, while IR departments geared toward shielding the corporation from shareholder interventions will be less attracted to the participatory affordances of online media.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited in scope to corporations listed on the Swiss, German and Austrian stock exchanges and cannot account for antecedents distinct to other regulatory environments.Practical implicationsIR functions need to carefully develop and apply communication strategies, which in turn will inform ICT adoption. The authors find that IR departments geared toward a two-way symmetrical communication model are more attracted to the participatory affordances of online platforms. Thereby, they are more likely to innovate by employing current digital applications.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on the benefits of digital media to two-way symmetrical and dialogic corporate communications. It is the first study to explore these relationships in the context of IR. It further contributes to research on the strategic role of IR by developing and applying two distinct strategic frames to the subject of ICT adoption in IR.

An analysis of e-book learning platforms: Affordances, architecture, functionality and analytics

Abstract E-book learning platforms are increasingly used as curriculum resources for independent reading at school and home, although benefits for students’ reading motivation and skill are unclear. Using a set of analytic tools, this study describes two e-book learning platforms in terms of platform affordances, digital architecture of e-books, functionality of screen pages and dashboard analytics. Qualitative analyses reveal patterns of strength and weakness along each dimension. Affordances rated highest in content and administration characteristics, but largely unmet in accessibility and communication. Architecture tends to maximize text access, but minimize text/media integration and active reader engagement. Functionality suggests a word-focused pattern that favors word learning over text comprehension. Analytics tend to inform skill building over self-awareness and progress. Analytic tools were designed and/or refined to develop and improve technical adequacy. Findings lay the groundwork for more controlled studies of the effectiveness of e-book platforms as literacy curriculum resources and more active collaboration among publishers, IT developers and educators to improve e-book platform quality.

Building relationships through dialogic communication: organizations, stakeholders, and computer-mediated communication

Online media are integral to daily life, and while many organizations use them to reach broad audiences, others still appear to be uncomfortable with online media because they do not understand how to maximize their potential to interact effectively with stakeholders. Numerous organizations use online media for one-way communication to disseminate information, despite the affordances of the media platforms for two-way, dialogic communication. This article draws on two dominant interpersonal theories of computer-mediated communication—social information processing theory and the hyperpersonal model—to propose dialogic strategies that organizations can use to improve their online communication with their stakeholders. We illustrate the application of these principles through three stages of relationship building: initiating/experimenting, intensifying, and integrating/bonding. The article integrates the applications within an overall dialogic communication strategy, and provides organizations and practitioners with a model with which they can engage stakeholders with dialogic methods via social media.

‘Unmute This’: Captioning an (audio)visual microgenre

Abstract I argue that ‘Unmute This’ videos constitute an Internet video microgenre, and as particular intersections of behaviour, devices and content, these videos function as an entry point into a number of broader issues within twenty-first–century audio-visual media and participatory behaviour. First, the moment of encounter with an ‘Unmute This’ video post elucidates a reframing of the digital sensorium: how ears and eyes, watching and listening, are configured and reconfigured in tandem with ubiquitous devices like smartphones and earbuds, and via the affordances and behaviours of various digital and social media platforms. Secondly, directives to ‘Unmute This’ point to a distinct mode of online socialization, a particular ‘sociality’ of social media. In collaboration with the devices and platforms of their everyday experience, users build a vernacular theory of media use based on their own behaviours and practices. They then implement that theory while seeking to impart an ideal content experience for others, platform users potentially far removed from the poster/commenter’s own acquaintances. In this article, then, I begin by unpacking the implementation of autoplaying video and the assemblage of the ubiquitous digital sensorium – that is, what sensory behaviours and practices map on to dealing with autoplaying video, at least as suggested by ‘Unmute This’ directives. I then consider ‘Unmute This’ videos as a genre, sketching out some patterns in the form and content of videos that one might be most likely directed to ‘UNMUTE IMMEDIATELY’, and interrogating how such stylistic and formal details might be emergent in response to platform affordances, ubiquitous devices and norms of Internet-mediated sociality. Finally, I suggest a theorization of vernacular media theory, drawn from the particulars of ‘Unmute This’ videos and their creators and disseminators, and I unpack some implications for the kinds of assumptions about sociality, behaviour and trust that are built into such theorizing and user responses to it.

The affordance effect: Gatekeeping and (non)reciprocal journalism on Twitter

This study examines contemporary gatekeeping as it intersects with the evolving technological affordances of social media platforms and the ongoing negotiation of professionalized journalistic norms and routines in contentious politics. Beginning with a corpus of just over 4.2 million Tweets about the racially charged Ferguson, Missouri protests, a series of network analyses were applied to track shifts over time and to identify influential actors in this communicative space. These models informed further analyses that indicated legacy news organizations and affiliated journalists were least present and only marginally engaged in covering these events, and that other users on Twitter emerged as far more prominent gatekeepers. Methodological considerations and implications about the importance of dialogic and reciprocal activities for journalism are discussed.

Children’s Civic Engagement in the Scratch Online Community

In public discourse, and in the governance of online communities, young people are often denied agency. Children are frequently considered objects to protect, safeguard, and manage. Yet as children go online from very early ages, they develop emergent forms of civic and political engagement. Children appropriate the affordances of digital platforms in order to discuss, connect, and act with their peers and in their communities. In this paper, we analyze civic engagement in Scratch Online, a creative community where children from around the world learn programming by designing and sharing interactive media projects. We explore the ways that young Scratch community members connect with issues of global importance, as well as with local topics and questions of community governance. We develop a typology of the strategies they use to express themselves, engage with their peers, and call for action. We then analyze the reaction of the community, including other Scratch members and adult moderators, and draw key lessons from these examples in order to describe guidelines for educators and designers who would like to support children’s rights to civic engagement in online learning environments.

A netnographic study of P2P collaborative consumption platforms’ user interface and design

Although still embryonic, collaborative consumption and the sharing economy have become social and economic phenomena in just a few short years, yet there is little consensus on how to define them. The current classificatory schema or typologies of platforms have some weaknesses. Sectoral classifications, technological functionality, and discursive modes of understanding sharing and collaborative economies all provide valuable insights, but when taken individually important gaps are evident, not least in their inter-system isolation, but most particularly when technology, such as platform architecture and user interfaces, is disassociated from wider social and economic conditions of possibility. In order to build on previous research we set out to develop a more complex understanding of collaborative consumption by studying platform architecture, interface, design and informational content to examine how technological affordances of digital platforms’ structure social interaction. In order to carry out the research we designed a netnographic protocol that systematised data collection across four dimensions of platforms’ technological structure and informational content: functionality and usability; trust and virtual reputation; codes of conduct and community footprint. Data was collected on fifty-five platforms, including forty-seven across Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as eight international platforms. Following factor and cluster analysis, and on the basis of the theoretical understandings of the sharing and collaborative economy, we developed a typology that grouped platforms into three groups: network, transaction and community oriented.

Platform affordances and data practices: The value of dispute on Wikipedia

In this paper we introduce the device perspective as a methodological contribution to platform studies. Through an engagement with debates about the notion of affordances, which focus on the relation between the technical and the social, we put forward an approach to study the production of data within platforms by engaging with the material properties of platforms as well as their interpretation and deployment by various types of users. As a case in point, we study how the affordances of Wikipedia are deployed in the production of encyclopedic knowledge and how this can be used to study controversies. The analysis shows how Wikipedia affords unstable encyclopedic knowledge by having mechanisms in place that suggest the continuous (re)negotiation of existing knowledge. We furthermore showcase the use of our open-source software, Contropedia, which can be utilized to study knowledge production on Wikipedia.

Put on Your Game Face: Designing the Researcher Presence In immersive Digital Environments

Researchers’ appearance and behavior may influence study participants’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during in-person data collection. However, investigators in online settings can manage this influence by leveraging platform affordances to craft purposeful, scripted presences. We argue for a revisioning of approaches to researcher presence in immersive digital environments. In particular, we draw on the metaphor of a video game non-player character (NPC) to position researchers as characters embedded in study narratives. The researcher-as-NPC is designed by purposefully selecting visual, verbal, and behavioral features in relation to the norms and requirements of both the research and the immersive digital environment. This balance allows an avatar to function as a more transparent research tool and as a character within both the research and world narratives, rather than as a mere extension of researcher agency. We offer two case studies – one in an open digital world of Second Life and one in a structured online game World of Warcraft – to illustrate how this framework can contribute to effective parameters for participant interaction that minimize potential threats to validity and advance specific research objectives.

Sharing the Stage

Despite the proliferation of research on social media and journalism, only a few studies have analyzed how journalists in Latin America embrace the affordances of social platforms for journalism practice. Based on a survey of 877 Latin American reporters, this article examines the platforms journalists use and how they use them. The broad finding is that, despite the great popularity of Facebook in the region, Twitter is the most important platform for daily newsgathering and journalistic work. Journalists turn to Twitter to find sources and stories, showing an important openness to participatory journalism. Yet, they mistrust information provided from political sources. Our findings show that different regions in Latin America work with social media in different ways, and local journalistic cultures have an impact on these adoptions, especially in the case of Brazil. Further research and implications for the field are discussed.

A strategic response to MOOCs: How one European university is approaching the challenge

<p class="normal">This paper briefly outlines some of the macro level claims, counter-claims and unresolved debates surrounding the rapid growth of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Higher Education. It then reports insights, experiences and perceptions of those charged with developing a strategic institutional response to the challenges and opportunities presented by the MOOC movement framed within a wider European context. A description of the key drivers, strategic deliberations and major decision points at Dublin City University (DCU) is provided along with brief analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of a range of MOOC options set against an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving technology-enhanced learning terrain. In reflecting on this micro level experience, informed by lessons from the burgeoning literature on MOOCs, the paper aims to demonstrate the value of aligning key decisions with well-defined institutional drivers, which are used to help compare and contrast the affordances of different MOOC platforms. Finally, a number of strategic questions are presented that may help guide future decisions about the adoption of MOOCs by other institutions. </p>

“Use Your Skills to Solve This Challenge!”: The Platform Affordances and Politics of Digital Microvolunteering

How does the rise of managed online platforms for civic engagement change the relationships between activists and organizations? While much has been written about Twitter- and Facebook-enabled mobilization, the emergence of platforms that organize “microaction” in contained ways is a phenomenon understudied by social movement and media scholars. This study draws on both literatures to analyze the hybrid case of Sparked, a microvolunteering platform created by web designers, not activists, that efficiently organizes volunteering through a microaction design. The case exhibits characteristics that social movement scholars understand as resource mobilization through leveraging of affordances by activists, but it also features the structural characteristics of platforms that media scholars identify as both enabling and constraining. To conceptualize the “digitally enabled activism” that takes place within the confines of a managed platform, this study investigates its microaction affordances and their implications. My analysis finds that high leveraging of online affordances can coincide with a shifted logic of engagement in the case of microaction platforms: Sparked’s microaction system affords high performance, but targets only a specialized niche of volunteering. I describe this model as “specialized supersizing” that addresses nonprofits’ needs for increasing organizational overhead services in the context of a professionalizing third sector. Sparked’s microvolunteering design has helped define a platform-centric constitution for microaction that is geared toward rationalization, professionalization, and productivity. Its platform “politics” promote depoliticization, where tactics, not causes, determine exchanges. This emergence of a market for mobilization tactics may have important implications for nonprofits, volunteers, and social movements.

Live tweeting and building the digital archive; #NFQLR – who and what is it for?

This paper examines the temporal and ethical affordances of commercial social media platforms, such as Twitter, as tools for engaging in social research and knowledge exchange. Drawing on activity that took place during the New Frontiers in Qualitative Longitudinal Research seminar series, the article reports on using Twitter and other social media platforms to document, share and archive ‘data’ from a series of research events. It also experiments with new modes of research writing, using fragments of ‘data’ from Twitter to distil research knowledge and ideas, whilst also capturing the pace and form of this live method of social documentation and knowledge exchange. Bringing together conversations within digital sociology about how to ‘do’ time in digital research, with methodological debates among qualitative longitudinal researchers about how to research social and biographical continuity and change, the paper argues that the presentist focus in digital research is far from inevitable. Attending to time in digital media demands that we are alert to questions of authorship, audience and co-production, recognizing the labour of research and the provenance of research knowledge, ‘data’ and ideas.

The social mediascape of transnational Korean pop culture: Hallyu 2.0 as spreadable media practice

While it has been more than 15 years since the Korean pop culture phenomenon known as the Korean wave or hallyu emerged, academic analyses have not sufficiently addressed its dimension as a media environment from a global perspective. In this regard, drawing on qualitative interviews with North American fans of the recent Korean wave, this study explores how the hallyu phenomenon is integrated into a social media-driven cultural landscape, which will be referred to as the social mediascape. The social mediascape of hallyu reveals that the technological affordances of social media platforms and fans’ sociality interplay with each other, resulting in the rapid spread of hallyu as a set of impure cultural forms.