Explicit and Implicit Structuring of Genres in Electronic Communication: Reinforcement and Change of Social Interaction
研究日本一家公司研发团队采用新电子媒介时，发现两种使用模式：由少数中介者刻意塑造的社区范围沟通类型，以及团队内部成员潜移默化形成的本地类型，揭示了显性与隐性结构化过程如何强化或改变社会互动。
In a study of how an R&D group in a Japanese firm adopted and used a new electronic medium, we identified two contrasting patterns of use: the use of community-wide communication types, or genres, deliberately shaped by the action of a small, sanctioned group of mediators; and the use of local genres tacitly shaped by members within their own research teams. We suggest that these patterns reflect the more general processes of explicit and implicit structuring, resulting in both the reinforcement and change of social interaction within communities. Explicit structuring included the planned replication, planned modification, and opportunistic modification of existing genres, while implicit structuring included the migration and variation of existing genres. We believe that these two processes provide suggestive models for understanding the initial and ongoing use of new electronic media within a community.