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Illuminating the relative dominance of awareness and pervasiveness over visibility in organizational ICT affordances

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Contemporary discourse on the affordances of organizational information and communication technologies (ICTs) has largely been captivated by the allure of visibility. This article challenges that glare by elucidating the overlooked yet pivotal roles of a set of other organizational ICT affordances. Through a dominance analysis, our findings illuminate that awareness—the capacity of ICTs to link information and actors in an ongoing digital tapestry—and pervasiveness—the widespread nature, across time and space, of digital content and interactions—hold greater explanatory power compared to visibility in understanding some types of interactions fostered by ICTs (communication frequency, information-sharing quality at work [within and across departments], and identity processes [departmental and organizational]). By spotlighting the explanatory strength of affordances such as awareness and pervasiveness and somewhat dimming the role of visibility, this study urges scholars and practitioners alike to broaden their focus on the affordances of media in the digital workplace.

Source: Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

DOI: 10.1093/jcmc/zmaf006

Authors: Ward van Zoonen, Ronald Rice, Anu Sivunen

Institutions: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Jyväskylä, University of California, Santa Barbara

Language: English

Topic: Information Systems Theories and Implementation

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Academy of Finland

Award: G8083678204