‘Do your own research': affordance activation and disinformation spread

ABSTRACT

Affordances are the perception of what a technical artifact can do. They bridge a technically-determinist perspective with social constructivist theory, acknowledging the material aspects of technology while allowing for user agency. Yet most affordance theory separates out the engagement process into producers and consumers. On one hand, this lens is essential because it considers how an end user interprets, engages, and utilizes technology through their social structure. It highlights how engagement is both constrained and enabled by the creator, but also documents how such engagement might differ from a creator’s intention(s) completely. On the other hand, this framework doesn’t consider the interactional dimensions of affordances theory. This paper fills this gap, relying on sociotechnical theory to analyze three case studies across three different platforms (Twitter, Google Scholar, and Yandex). In doing so, we explain how pundits, propagandists, and conspiracy theorists ‘activate affordances’ to validate their claims. When audiences are primed to ‘do their own research,’ disinformation becomes a more entangled, participatory process.

KEYWORDS:

• Affordance theory
• platform studies
• participatory disinformation
• media manipulation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Marwick and Dr. Tripodi’s research is supported by the Center for Information Technology and Public Life, Technology, and Public Life and its philanthropic supporters, including the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Luminate, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Notes on contributors

Francesca B. Tripodi

Francesca B. Tripodi is an assistant professor in the School of Information and Library Science at UNC–Chapel Hill and a principal investigator at the Center for Information Technology and Public Life.

Lauren C. Garcia

Lauren C. Garcia is a former PhD student at the University of Virginia.

Alice E. Marwick

Alice E. Marwick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and a principal researcher at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.