ALGORITHMIC PROCESSES OF SOCIAL ALERTNESS AND SOCIAL TRANSMISSION: HOW BOTS DISSEMINATE INFORMATION ON TWITTER

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Salge, Carolina Alves de Lima; Karahanna, Elena; Thatcher, Jason Bennett
• 署名单位: University System of Georgia; University of Georgia; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Temple University
• 刊物名称: MIS QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0276-7783
• DOI: 10.25300/MISQ/2021/15598
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 229-260
• 关键词: orientation; attention; Brokerage; science

摘要

Despite increased empirical attention, theory on bots and how they act to disseminate information on socialmediaremains poorly understood. Our study leverages the conduit brokerage perspective andthe findingsof amultiple case study todevelop anovel framework of algorithmic conduit brokeragefor understandinginformation dissemination by bots andthe designchoices that may influence their actions. Algorithmic conduitbrokerage encompasses twointertwinedprocesses. The first process, algorithmic social alertness, relies onbot activity tocurate andreconfigure information. Algorithmic socialalertness is significant because itinvolves action triggers that dictate the kinds ofinformationbeing searched, discovered, and retrievedby bots. The second process, algorithmic social transmission, relies onbot activity toembellishanddistribute theinformation curated. Algorithmic social transmissionis important because it canbroadenthe reachof infor-mation disseminated by bots throughincreased discoverability and directed targeting. The two algorithmicconduit brokerageprocesses we offer are unique tobots anddistinct from the original conceptualizationofconduit brokerage, whichis rootedinhumanactivity. First, since bots lack the humanability of sensemakingandare insteadfueledby automationandactiontriggers rather than by emotions, algorithmic conduit broker-age is more invariant and reliable than human conduit brokerage. Second, automation increases the speed and scale of information curation and transfer, making algorithmic conduit brokerage not only more consistent but also faster and more extensive. Third, algorithmic conduit brokerage includes a set of new concepts (e.g., action triggers and rapidscaling)that are specific to bots and therefore not applicable to human conduit brokerage