Work relationships and media use: A social network analysis |
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Authors: | Haythornthwaite Caroline Wellman Barry Mantei Marilyn |
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Institution: | (1) Faculty of Library and Information Studies, University of Toronto, 140 St. George Street, M5S 1A1 Toronto, Ontario, Canada;(2) Department of Sociology, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto, 455 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor, M5S 2G8 Toronto, Ontario, Canada;(3) Faculty of Information Studies, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, M5S 1A4 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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Abstract: | Our research provided empirical evidence about the alternative means of communication used by 25 members of a research group who had available to them: unscheduled face-to-face encounters, sheduled face-to-face meetings, electronic mail, telephone, fax, and desktop videoconferencing. The intent of our research is to learn whether there are elements in existing group communication patterns that suggest how future communication systems can be designed or selected to fit the actual work relationships of a group. A detailed social network survey provided information about what members of the group communicated about, how they communicated, and with whom they communicated. Most communication was done through a combination of media, but predominately through unscheduled encounters, electronic mail, and scheduled meetings; people rarely videoconferenced, telephoned, or faxed. Factor analysis reduced the 24 work relationships to six distinct dimensions: receiving work, giving work, collaborative writing, major emotional support, sociability, and computer programming. The proportion in which the three main media were used varied according to the nature of the work dimension. Our findings suggest that a multivariate perspective that considers group norms and practices, social networks, and work dimensions is necessary to analyze media use. |
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Keywords: | computer-mediated communication electronic mail information technology collaborative work media choice multimedia integration network analysis social networks videoconferencing work communication |
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