![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
In this study we conceptualize cues in social media that require a single click (e.g., Likes, Favorites) as paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs). Why do people use PDAs and how do they interpret them when they are the recipient? Through focus groups (N = 25) and interviews (N = 26) we address these research questions within a uses and gratifications framework. Using adaptive structuration theory as a lens for analysis, we examine both faithful and ironic uses of PDAs, finding they contribute more than phatic communication and may indicate just as much about the relationship between sender and receiver as they do content.
Notes
1. We differentiate the PDAs of various social media platforms (e.g., Like, Favorite) and their corresponding practices from the colloquial terms (e.g., liking, favorite) by capitalizing the former. Terminology reported is consistent with the data collection date of October, 2014.
2. All participants have been given pseudonyms, consistent with their gender, to maintain anonymity.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rebecca A. Hayes
Rebecca A. Hayes (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an assistant professor of public relations at Illinois State University. Her research focuses on the brand and political uses and effects of social media, and the general technological affordances of social media.
Caleb T. Carr
Caleb T. Carr (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an assistant professor of communication in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. His research addresses how new media alter communicative processes, including how social media are used for organizational uncertainty reduction and to create, maintain, and affect identity online.
Donghee Yvette Wohn
Donghee Yvette Wohn (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an assistant professor of information systems at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She studies human-computer interaction and social media effects.