An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse

Q. Jones; G. Ravid; S. Rafaeli

doi:10.1109/HICSS.2002.994061

An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse

Q. Jones, G. Ravid, S. Rafaeli

School Of Business Administration

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

The large-scale adoption of computer mediated communication technologies has resulted in what has been described as "mass interaction": shared discourse between hundreds, thousands or more individuals. A number of theoretical papers have made the argument that because of the existence of various technological and psychological constraints, the forms that mass interaction takes, can be understood partly in terms of system dynamics. In particular, it has been suggested that user information overload results in nonlinear feedback loops which impacts on discourse structure. This paper describes an empirical examination of three hypothesized effects of such loops by the analysis of 2.65 million USENET messages posted to 600 newsgroups over a 6-month period. Statistical analysis of the data demonstrated the existence of the hypothesized effects and support the assertion that individual 'information overload' coping strategies have an observable impact on mass interaction discourse dynamics. This in turn suggests that the usability of computer mediated communication technologies can be examined in terms of group-level usability.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002
Editors	Ralph H. Sprague
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
Pages	1050-1059
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	0769514359
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2002.994061
State	Published - 2002
Event	35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002 - Big Island, United States Duration: 7 Jan 2002 → 10 Jan 2002

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Volume	2002-January
ISSN (Print)	1530-1605

Conference

Conference	35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002
Country/Territory	United States
City	Big Island
Period	7/01/02 → 10/01/02

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2002 IEEE.

Keywords

Communications technology
Computer mediated communication
Constraint theory
Feedback loop
Large-scale systems
Nonlinear dynamical systems
Paper technology
Psychology
Statistical analysis
Usability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/HICSS.2002.994061

Cite this

Jones, Q., Ravid, G., & Rafaeli, S. (2002). An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse. In R. H. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002 (pp. 1050-1059). Article 994061 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Vol. 2002-January). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2002.994061

Jones, Q. ; Ravid, G. ; Rafaeli, S. / An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics : Individual information overload and Usenet discourse. Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002. editor / Ralph H. Sprague. IEEE Computer Society, 2002. pp. 1050-1059 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences).

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abstract = "The large-scale adoption of computer mediated communication technologies has resulted in what has been described as {"}mass interaction{"}: shared discourse between hundreds, thousands or more individuals. A number of theoretical papers have made the argument that because of the existence of various technological and psychological constraints, the forms that mass interaction takes, can be understood partly in terms of system dynamics. In particular, it has been suggested that user information overload results in nonlinear feedback loops which impacts on discourse structure. This paper describes an empirical examination of three hypothesized effects of such loops by the analysis of 2.65 million USENET messages posted to 600 newsgroups over a 6-month period. Statistical analysis of the data demonstrated the existence of the hypothesized effects and support the assertion that individual 'information overload' coping strategies have an observable impact on mass interaction discourse dynamics. This in turn suggests that the usability of computer mediated communication technologies can be examined in terms of group-level usability.",

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Jones, Q, Ravid, G & Rafaeli, S 2002, An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse. in RH Sprague (ed.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002., 994061, Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, vol. 2002-January, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 1050-1059, 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002, Big Island, United States, 7/01/02. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2002.994061

An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse. / Jones, Q.; Ravid, G.; Rafaeli, S.
Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002. ed. / Ralph H. Sprague. IEEE Computer Society, 2002. p. 1050-1059 994061 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Vol. 2002-January).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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Jones Q, Ravid G, Rafaeli S. An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse. In Sprague RH, editor, Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2002. IEEE Computer Society. 2002. p. 1050-1059. 994061. (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences). doi: 10.1109/HICSS.2002.994061

An empirical exploration of mass interaction system dynamics: Individual information overload and Usenet discourse

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this