iamcr2015 domenget-latzko-toth
Post on 15-Aug-2015
300 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Pour une approche temporaliste des usages et des dispositifs de communication numériques
For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses
Jean-Claude DomengetELLIADD – Université de Franche-Comté
Guillaume Latzko-TothLabCMO – Université Laval
IAMCR 2015 / UQAM / 14-07-2015
2
Conceptualizing the unstable – Limits of existing theoretical frameworks
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Two paradigms in the field of French social studies of ICT uses (sociology of uses; Jauréguiberry et Proulx, 2011; Proulx, 2015) :
1) Unit of analysis = social uses as stable pattern of practices; focus on continuity, reproduction, filiation of uses
missing some aspects of digital ICT uses (changes, instabiliy, fragility)
2) Unit of analysis = activity within which ICT uses take place; 5 levels of analysis including everyday life and the long term
time as a contextual element in the analysis (to situate uses at a specific scale of time or within a historical sequence)
A concept of uses as stable construct becomes inadequate when devices themselves are – and stay – unstable!
3
Instability of digital devices, fragility of their uses
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Software-based media...
•Keep their plasticity (flexibility) long after they start to be used
•Are subject to constant mutations (permanently beta, Neff & Stark, 2003)
•Are unstable and incomplete by design (Garud et al, 2008; Latzko-Toth, 2011; Maxigas, 2014) : their plasticity is instrumentalized by designers to enroll users in the design process
4
Instability of digital devices, fragility of their uses
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Digital practices...
•Are unstable as they are constantly adjusting to evolving devices
•Uses are fragile (Domenget, 2013) : subject to changes in attitudes towards and representation of the device; fluctuations in the degree of engagement; moments of disengagements, and so on
•Show various states from non-uses or "limited uses" – Kellner et al., 2010) to routinized (social) uses = 2 ideal-types at both ends of a continuum
5
Broadening the conceptual framework to include temporal dimensions
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Poorness of existing terminology to refer to time in ICT uses
• No unified theory in sociology of time, but a rich vocabulary has been crafted in this scholarship, allowing for a rich and fine-grained analysis of social temporalities in relation to digital practices
6
Broadening the conceptual framework to include temporal dimensions
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Lallement's (2008) grammar of time based on Grossin (1996) articulates 4 time structures/formations :
- temporal frames: imposed "architectures" of time specific to a domain of activity (closed and rigid)
- temporal milieus: temporal assemblages that structure activities on an open, free, and flexible basis
- temporal cultures: shared representations and "ways of doing" associated with a group/society/period/generation
- personal temporal equations: combining a personal temporal horizon (individual perspective on the articulation of present, past and future), time management practices, and other elements
useful for analyzing temporal heterogeneities and related conflicts in ICT uses
7
Broadening the conceptual framework to include temporal dimensions
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
A typology of temporal dimensions (Dubar et Rolle, 2008):
- Moments of time: present, past, future
- Time scales: short, medium, long term
- Domains of time structuration: work, leisure, family, intimacy
- Modes of temporal expression: ways of expressing temporalities in discourse (e.g. temporal narratives regarding the self)
Useful for describing the temporal texture and "depth" of ICT uses
8
Methodological principles
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Approach devices and practices in a diachronic, historicized way; by following the device's co-construction process, design changes and the formation of uses are captured jointly
• Within a definite time period, think digital devices as synchronicly embedded in a boundless web of digital artifacts
• A sensitivity to instability and fragility as expressed in the discourses involved in sociotechnical controversies
9
Inquiry methods
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Long term observation/immersion (several years) develop a reflexive practice and a diachronic view of the device
• Qualitative interviews personal temporal equations in their diachronic and synchronic aspects
• Trace analysis (archives of posts, tweets, etc. ; Facebook activity logs...)
• Hybrid methods (e.g. trace interviews and co-analysis with users)
10
Illustrations: temporalizing Twitter uses
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Twitter lists: how listing morphed from a social curation practice to a metrics of authority
• Twitter bots and the automation of relation establishment
11
Conclusions – Revisiting user agency through the lens of temporality
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Unfolding the "hidden dimension" of time in studies of digital communication devices
• New possible axes of analysis Historicity of ICT uses (e.g.: how users periodicize their own
practices)
Time practices in relation to ICT uses (how digital practices shape collective and individual temporalities)
...
12
Conclusions – Revisiting user agency through the lens of temporality
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
•Time and technology as a nexus of political struggle (cf. Grossin's temporal ecologies):
ICTs may be used to empower users in relation to time by helping them articulate temporal milieus allowing them to deal with temporal heterogeneity and other challenges in a culture of emergency (Auber, 2003) and social acceleration (Rosa, 2012);
but they can also harden the constraints of temporal frames and configure users' temporal experiences in a forced fashion
13
Merci ! Thank you !
Jean-Claude DOMENGET – ELLIADD – Université de Franche-Comté
jcdomenget@gmail.com@jcdblog
Guillaume LATZKO-TOTH – LabCMO – Université Laval
guillaume.latzko-toth@com.ulaval.ca@guillaumelatzko
top related