Social Construction of Communication Technology

Citation: Janet Fulk (1993/10/01) Social Construction of Communication Technology. Academy of Management Journal (RSS)
DOI (original publisher): 10.2307/256641
Semantic Scholar (metadata): 10.2307/256641
Sci-Hub (fulltext): 10.2307/256641
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): Social Construction of Communication Technology
Tagged: Business (RSS)

Summary

This article tests a series of hypotheses synthesized from social constructivist theories about the relationship between individual attitudes toward their workgroup, attitudes and skills with respect to technology, and the traits of the technology itself. The empirical setting is a firm implementing and assessing use of e-mail, and the data was collected through surveys and direct observation of trace data counting the number of messages sent and received. Fulk found that an individual's attitude toward their work group is a key moderator in how readily they will take up a new technology and how useful they will perceive it to be, in particular that highly engaged workers will be more engaged and more satisfied with the technology, while disengaged workers will be more likely to simply conform to group requirements, and to perceive the technology as less rich.

Theoretical and Practical Relevance

Researchers examining technology attitudes and satisfaction in workgroups should consider the potential relevance of this result and incorporate social attraction variables into their models. In addition to providing a key empirical test for a line of research into the relationship between social attitudes and technology attitudes and uses, this article also offers a strong summary of social constructivist theories of technology. One key takeaway from this article for technologists is the significance of the social relationships that exist prior to the introduction of a technology; people unhappy with their jobs are likely to be unhappy with any technology you implement.