A156. Gibbs, J. L., Rice,
R. E., & Kirkwood, G. L. (2022). Digital discipline: Theorizing
concertive
control in online communities. Communication Theory, 32(3),
305-331. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtab017
Concertive
control (CC)
theory has primarily been applied to
traditional offline, work-based, closed membership teams. New
organizational
forms such as online communities have opened up additional sites in
which CC
processes may operate. This article makes several contributions to CC
theory
and research. First, it increases the applicability of CC theory by
extending
it from offline to online, work to non-work, and closed to open
membership
contexts. Second, it increases our understanding of CC processes by
elaborating
on three mechanisms of CC (group autonomy, group identification, and
generative
discipline) and how they operate differently in online work/non-work
and
closed/open contexts. Third, it develops propositions about how these
mechanisms interact with three prominent media affordances (visibility,
persistence and editability) within those contexts. Extending CC theory
to
online communities helps to explain individuals’ responses to normative
group
pressures online, which is highly relevant in our increasingly
culturally and
politically polarized society.
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