"i watch people work—in a non-creepy way": applying genre and sociocultural theory to...
Post on 19-Oct-2014
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A talk I recently gave at Utah State, discussing my approach to field research.TRANSCRIPT
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"I watch people work—in a non-creepy way":
Applying genre and sociocultural theory to net work
Clay [email protected]
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WORK IS CHANGING
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Literacy is changing
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Classes of work are changing
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Mobility is changing
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Social media are changing
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… So work is changing
• Shedding noncore assets• Working across organizations• Projectification• Virtual organizations• Hyperconnectivity
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I WATCH PEOPLE CHANGE ALONG WITH THEIR WORK
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Understanding changes in work
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Net work
“the ways in which the assemblage is enacted, maintained, extended, and transformed; the ways in which knowledge work is strategically and tactically performed in a heavily networked organization.” (Spinuzzi 2008, p.16).
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GENRE
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Spinuzzi 2008, p.17
• “not just text types”• “typified rhetorical responses to recurring
social situations”• “tools-in-use”• “a behavioral descriptor rather than a formal
one”• Through their use, genres “weave together”
networks
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“typified rhetorical responses to recurring social situations”
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NOT just structure
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NOT Medium
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A “Tool-In-Use”
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Genres “evolve” (Spinuzzi 2003)
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Genres Developed Over Iterations
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Case: LinkedIn
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Case: Facebook
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Genres work together…
• juxtaposition (two texts attached to or overlapping each other)
• placing (two texts placed side by side, in a stack, or in regular places)
• annotation (writing or altering a text)• transfer (using one text as source for filling in another)• modeling (using one text as a model for another)• reference (using one text to interpret or operate
another)• And ???
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Genre ecology (2003)
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Genre ecology (2008)
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Genre ecology (2010)
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Genre Ecologies & Social Media
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LEVELS OF ACTIVITYGenre functions at three different levels.
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Genre at three levelsLevel Focus Chars Timescale Aware? Disruption
Macro Activity Culture, history; social action, social memory
Year, decades
No Contradiction
Meso Goal Tool-in-use; tactics
Minutes, hours
Yes Discoordination
Micro Operation Rules, habits Seconds No Breakdown
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Genre: The Macro LevelLevel Focus Chars Timescale Aware? Disruption
Macro Activity Culture, history; social action, social memory
Year, decades
No Contradiction
Meso Goal Tool-in-use; tactics
Minutes, hours
Yes Discoordination
Micro Operation Rules, habits Seconds No Breakdown
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Genre: The Meso LevelLevel Focus Chars Timescale Aware? Disruption
Macro Activity Culture, history; social action, social memory
Year, decades
No Contradiction
Meso Goal Tool-in-use; tactics
Minutes, hours
Yes Discoordination
Micro Operation Rules, habits Seconds No Breakdown
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Genre: The Micro LevelLevel Focus Chars Timescale Aware? Disruption
Macro Activity Culture, history; social action, social memory
Year, decades
No Contradiction
Meso Goal Tool-in-use; tactics
Minutes, hours
Yes Discoordination
Micro Operation Rules, habits Seconds No Breakdown
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Genre at three levelsLevel Focus Chars Timescale Aware? Disruption
Macro Activity Culture, history; social action, social memory
Year, decades
No Contradiction
Meso Goal Tool-in-use; tactics
Minutes, hours
Yes Discoordination
Micro Operation Rules, habits Seconds No Breakdown
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HOW DO YOU USE ACTIVITY AND GENRE TO SUPPORT NET WORK?
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