A172.
Van Zoonen, W., Rice, R., & Sivunen, A.
(2025).
Illuminating the relative dominance of awareness and pervasiveness over
visibility in organizational ICT affordances. Journal of
Computer-Mediated
Communication, 30(3), zmaf006. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmaf006
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.