Instant Messaging for Collaboration:
A Case Study of a High‐Tech Firm

This article examines uses of instant messaging (IM) in a high‐tech firm to illustrate how knowledge workers use this new work tool to collaborate with co‐workers. The objectives are 1) to identify the collaborative practices of individuals in mediated work environments by looking at uses of IM; 2)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of computer-mediated communication Vol. 10; no. 4; p. 00
Main Authors: Quan‐Haase, Anabel, Cothrel, Joseph, Wellman, Barry
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2005
Subjects:
Instant messaging systems
Shields
Surveys
Translucence
Working conditions
ISSN:1083-6101, 1083-6101
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article examines uses of instant messaging (IM) in a high‐tech firm to illustrate how knowledge workers use this new work tool to collaborate with co‐workers. The objectives are 1) to identify the collaborative practices of individuals in mediated work environments by looking at uses of IM; 2) to discern what social processes are reflected in employees' use of IM; and 3) to investigate how three factors proposed by Erickson and Kellogg (2000) to support social processes—visibility, awareness and accountability—are used in an IM system. Questionnaire and interview data show that while IM leads to higher connectivity and new forms of collaboration, it also creates distance: employees use the mediated environment as a shield, distancing themselves from superiors. We use Erickson & Kellogg's ‘social translucence of technology’ framework to discuss the social consequences of working in a computer‐mediated work environment.
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ISSN:1083-6101
1083-6101
DOI:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2005.tb00276.x