For a temporalist approach of digital communication devices and their uses

1. Pour une approche temporaliste des usages et
des dispositifs de communication numériques
For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses
Jean-Claude Domenget
ELLIADD – Université de Franche-Comté
Guillaume Latzko-Toth
LabCMO – Université Laval
IAMCR 2015 / UQAM / 14-07-2015

2. 2
Conceptualizing the unstable – Limits of
existing theoretical frameworks
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Two paradigms in the field of French social studies of ICT uses (sociology
of uses; Jauréguiberry et Proulx, 2011; Proulx, 2015) :
1) Unit of analysis = social uses as stable pattern of practices; focus on
continuity, reproduction, filiation of uses
 missing some aspects of digital ICT uses (changes, instabiliy,
fragility)
2) Unit of analysis = activity within which ICT uses take place; 5 levels of
analysis including everyday life and the long term
 time as a contextual element in the analysis (to situate uses at
a specific scale of time or within a historical sequence)
A concept of uses as stable construct becomes inadequate when devices
themselves are – and stay – unstable!

3. 3
Instability of digital devices, fragility of
their uses
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Software-based media...
•Keep their plasticity (flexibility) long after they start to be used
•Are subject to constant mutations (permanently beta, Neff &
Stark, 2003)
•Are unstable and incomplete by design (Garud et al, 2008;
Latzko-Toth, 2011; Maxigas, 2014) : their plasticity is
instrumentalized by designers to enroll users in the design process

4. 4
Instability of digital devices, fragility of
their uses
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Digital practices...
•Are unstable as they are constantly adjusting to evolving devices
•Uses are fragile (Domenget, 2013) : subject to changes in
attitudes towards and representation of the device; fluctuations in
the degree of engagement; moments of disengagements, and so
on
•Show various states from non-uses or "limited uses" – Kellner et
al., 2010) to routinized (social) uses = 2 ideal-types at both ends of
a continuum

5. 5
Broadening the conceptual framework to
include temporal dimensions
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Poorness of existing terminology to refer to time in
ICT uses
• No unified theory in sociology of time, but a rich
vocabulary has been crafted in this scholarship,
allowing for a rich and fine-grained analysis of social
temporalities in relation to digital practices

6. 6
Broadening the conceptual framework to
include temporal dimensions
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
Lallement's (2008) grammar of time based on Grossin (1996)
articulates 4 time structures/formations :
- temporal frames: imposed "architectures" of time specific to a
domain of activity (closed and rigid)
- temporal milieus: temporal assemblages that structure
activities on an open, free, and flexible basis
- temporal cultures: shared representations and "ways of doing"
associated with a group/society/period/generation
- personal temporal equations: combining a personal temporal
horizon (individual perspective on the articulation of present, past
and future), time management practices, and other elements
 useful for analyzing temporal heterogeneities and related
conflicts in ICT uses

7. 7
Broadening the conceptual framework to
include temporal dimensions
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
A typology of temporal dimensions (Dubar et Rolle, 2008):
- Moments of time: present, past, future
- Time scales: short, medium, long term
- Domains of time structuration: work, leisure, family, intimacy
- Modes of temporal expression: ways of expressing temporalities
in discourse (e.g. temporal narratives regarding the self)
 Useful for describing the temporal texture and "depth" of ICT
uses

8. 8
Methodological principles
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Approach devices and practices in a diachronic, historicized
way; by following the device's co-construction process, design
changes and the formation of uses are captured jointly
• Within a definite time period, think digital devices as
synchronicly embedded in a boundless web of digital artifacts
• A sensitivity to instability and fragility as expressed in the
discourses involved in sociotechnical controversies

9. 9
Inquiry methods
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Long term observation/immersion (several years) develop a
reflexive practice and a diachronic view of the device
• Qualitative interviews  personal temporal equations in their
diachronic and synchronic aspects
• Trace analysis (archives of posts, tweets, etc. ; Facebook
activity logs...)
• Hybrid methods (e.g. trace interviews and co-analysis with
users)

10. 10
Illustrations: temporalizing Twitter uses
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Twitter lists: how listing morphed from a social
curation practice to a metrics of authority
• Twitter bots and the automation of relation
establishment

11. 11
Conclusions – Revisiting user agency
through the lens of temporality
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
• Unfolding the "hidden dimension" of time in studies of
digital communication devices
• New possible axes of analysis
­ Historicity of ICT uses (e.g.: how users periodicize their own
practices)
­ Time practices in relation to ICT uses (how digital practices
shape collective and individual temporalities)
­ ...

12. 12
Conclusions – Revisiting user agency
through the lens of temporality
Domenget & Latzko-Toth – For a temporalist approach of digital
communication devices and their uses – IAMCR 2015
•Time and technology as a nexus of political struggle (cf.
Grossin's temporal ecologies):
­ ICTs may be used to empower users in relation to time by helping
them articulate temporal milieus allowing them to deal with temporal
heterogeneity and other challenges in a culture of emergency (Auber,
2003) and social acceleration (Rosa, 2012);
­ but they can also harden the constraints of temporal frames and
configure users' temporal experiences in a forced fashion

13. Merci !
Thank you !
Jean-Claude DOMENGET – ELLIADD – Université de Franche-Comté
jcdomenget@gmail.com
@jcdblog
Guillaume LATZKO-TOTH – LabCMO – Université Laval
guillaume.latzko-toth@com.ulaval.ca
@guillaumelatzko