Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jul 2011

Contextualizing Experiences: Tracing the Relationships Between People and Technologies in the Social Web

Liza Potts Old Dominion University ; Dave Jones Old Dominion University

Abstract

This article uses both actor network theory (ANT) and activity theory to trace and analyze the ways in which both Twitter and third-party applications support the development and maintenance of meaningful contexts for Twitter participants. After situating context within the notion of a ‘‘fire space’’, the authors use ANT to trace the actors that support finding and moving information. Then they analyze the ‘‘prescriptions’’ of each application using the activity-theory distinction between actions and operations. Finally, they combine an activity-theory analysis with heuristics derived from the concept of ‘‘findability’’ in order to explore design implications for Social Web applications.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2011-07-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651911400839
Open Access
Closed
Topics
genre theory multimodality social media race and writing

Citation Context

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  5. Cameron et al. (2022)
    Twitter Users’ Displays of Affect in the Global Warming Debate
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  1. Yim et al. (2019)
    Why Legitimacy Matters in Crisis Communication: A Case Study of the “Nut Rage” …
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  2. Friess et al. (2018)
    Cultivating a Sense of Belonging: Using Twitter to Establish a Community in an …
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  3. Kessler et al. (2018)
    Terminal node problems: ANT 2.0 and prescription drug labels
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  4. Pflugfelder (2018)
    Failure Matters: Conflicting Practices in a High-Tech Case
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  5. Vie (2017)
    Training Online Technical Communication Educators to Teach with Social Media: B…
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  6. Sánchez (2017)
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  7. Pflugfelder (2017)
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  8. Shin et al. (2015)
    Building Relationships Through Integrated Online Media
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  9. Read et al. (2015)
    Visualizing and Tracing: Research Methodologies for the Study of Networked, Soc…
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  10. Frith (2014)
    Social Network Analysis and Professional Practice: Exploring New Methods for Re…
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  11. Bowdon (2014)
    Tweeting an Ethos: Emergency Messaging, Social Media, and Teaching Technical Co…
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  12. Jones (2014)
    Switching in Twitter’s Hashtagged Exchanges
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Cites in this index (5)

  1. Swarts (2010)
    Recycled Writing: Assembling Actor Networks From Reusable Content
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Spinuzzi (2009)
    Starter Ecologies
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Stolley (2009)
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    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Potts (2009)
    Using Actor Network Theory to Trace and Improve Multimodal Communication Design
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Geisler et al. (2001)
    IText
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Also cites 7 works outside this index ↓
  1. Callon, M. ( 1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fisher…
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CrossRef global citation count: 38 View in citation network →

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