We discuss findings from an ethnographic study of instant messaging (IM) in the workplace and its implications for media theory. We describe how instant messaging supports a variety of informal communication tasks. We document the affordances of IM that support flexible, expressive communication. We describe some unexpected uses of IM that highlight aspects of communication which are not part of current media theorizing. They pertain to communicative processes people use to connect with each other and to manage communication, rather than to information exchange. We call these processes "outeraction." We discuss how outeractional aspects of communication affect media choice and patterns of media use. Keywords Instant messaging, media theory, informal communication, computer-mediated communication, outeraction. INTRODUCTION Recent empirical work has shown the importance of informal workplace communication for effective collaboration. By informal we mean interactions that are generall...

Current perceptions of Instant Messaging (IM) use are based primarily on self-report studies. We logged thousands of (mostly) workplace IM conversations and evaluated their conversational characteristics and functions. Contrary to prior research, we found that the primary use of workplace IM was for complex work discussions. Only 28% of conversations were simple, single-purpose interactions and only 31% were about scheduling or coordination. Moreover, people rarely switched from IM to another medium when the conversation got complex. We found evidence of two distinct styles of use. Heavy IM users and frequent IM partners mainly used it to work together: to discuss a broad range of topics via many fast-paced interactions per day, each with many short turns and much threading and multitasking. Light users and infrequent pairs mainly used IM to coordinate: for scheduling, via fewer conversations per day that were shorter, slower-paced with less threading and multitasking.

Video media spaces are an excellent crucible for the study of privacy. Their design affords opportunities for misuse, prompts ethical questions, and engenders grave concerns from both users and nonusers. Despite considerable discussion of the privacy problems uncovered in prior work, questions remain as to how to design a privacy-preserving video media space and how to evaluate its effect on privacy. The problem is more deeply rooted than this, however. Privacy is an enormous concept from which a large vocabulary of terms emerges. Disambiguating the meanings of and relationships between these terms facilitates understanding of the link between privacy and design. In this article, we draw from resources in environmental psychology and computersupported cooperative work (CSCW) to build a broadly and deeply rooted vocabulary for privacy. We relate the vocabulary back to the real and hard problem of designing privacy-preserving video media spaces. In doing so, we facilitate analysis of the privacy-design relationship.

this paper. MISQ Review articles survey, conceptualize, and synthesize prior MIS research and set directions for future research. For more details see http://www.misq.org/misreview/announce.html The associated web site for this paper is located at http://misq.org/misreview/teeni.shtml communication to a view that assesses the balance between medium and message form. There is also a need to look more closely at the process of communication in order to identify more precisely any potential areas of computer support

Communication theories and technology have tended to focus on extended, formal meetings and have neglected a prevalent and vital form of workplace communication—namely, lightweight communication. Unlike formal, extended meetings, lightweight interaction is brief, informal, unplanned, and intermittent. We analyze naturalistic data from a study of workplace communication and derive five design criteria for lightweight interaction systems. These criteria require that systems for lightweight interaction support conversational tracking, rapid connection, the ability to leave a message, context management, and shared real-time objects. Using these criteria, we evaluate existing interpersonal communications technologies. We then describe an implementation of a system (TeleNotes) that is designed to support lightweight interaction by meeting these criteria. The interface metaphor allows communications to be based around desktop objects, resembling “sticky notes. ” These objects are also organized into “desktop piles ” to support conversational threads and provide mechanisms for initiating real-time audio, video, and application sharing. We conducted informal user testing of several system prototypes. Based on our findings, outstanding issues concerning theory and systems design for communication systems are outlined—in particular, with regard to the issue of managing conversations over time.

: Network congestion affects all users, but real-time multimedia communication is particularly vulnerable. It has been proposed that bandwidth reservation should be used to guarantee a certain quality of service (QoS) for such applications. In order to employ bandwidth reservation effectively, we need to know how much bandwidth a particular application requires. This depends largely on the quality at which different media have to be delivered. Since end-users' perception of quality will determine whether applications are successful, it is essential to establish minimum and maximum media quality required by a particular user group for a particular task. This paper discusses suitable methods and measurements to determine perceived media quality. The design of, and results from, an audio quality experiment illustrate the complexity involved. 1. INTRODUCTION The Internet community has grown considerably over the past few years, and there is a danger that it could become a victim of its o...

Wearable computers provide constant access to computing and communications resources. In this paper we describe how the computing power of wearables can be used to provide spatialized 3D graphics and audio cues to aid communication. The result is a wearable augmented reality communication space with audio enabled avatars of the remote collaborators surrounding the user. The user can use natural head motions to attend to the remote collaborators, can communicate freely while being aware of other side conversations and can move through the communication space. In this way the conferencing space can support dozens of simultaneous users. Informal user studies suggest that wearable communication spaces may offer several advantages, both through the increase in the amount of information it is possible to access and the naturalness of the interface. 1: Introduction One of the broad trends emerging in human-computer interaction is the increasing portability of computing and communication fac...

cation as an integrated set of speech, gaze, and gestural behaviours. As we shall see, studies of mediated communication allow us to identify the contribution of different nonverbal behaviours, such as gaze and gesture to communication. They also help to clarify the overall influence of visual information in communication, and the effects of communication interactive processes such as feedback on communication. Prior to examining what research has to say about these issues, we describe: (a) mediated communication theories; (b) the technologies used to support communication in the various situations; (c) the methods used to study mediated communication. Theories of mediated communication There are many different theories of mediated communication. Rather than describing each in detail, we restrict ourselves here to an exposition of the general form that these theories take, and the general set of claims that they make. The fundamental goal of mediated communication theor

this paper, means human action in a world

cc.gatech.edu In this paper, we describe Augur, a groupware calendar system to support personal calendaring practices, informal workplace communication, and the socio-technical evolution of the calendar system within a workgroup. Successful design and deployment of groupware calendar systems have been shown to depend on several converging, interacting perspectives. We describe calendar-based work practices as viewed from these perspectives, and present the Augur system in support of them. Augur allows users to retain the flexibility of personal calendars by anticipating and compensating for inaccurate calendar entries and idiosyncratic event names. We employ predictive user models of event attendance, intelligent processing of calendar text, and discovery of shared events to drive novel calendar visualizations that facilitate interpersonal communication. In addition, we visualize calendar access to support privacy management and long-term evolution of the calendar system.