Fon Sundaravej
Information Overload and the Message Dynamics of Online Interaction Spaces: A Theoretical Model and
Empirical Exploration
By Quentin Jones, Gilad Ravid, and Sheizaf Rafaeli
This study examines the relationship between the online interaction spaces and their user interactions. A theoretical
model focuses on the collective impact that individual information overload coping strategies have on the dynamics
of interactive public online group discourse. The methodology used to test the theory is based on the analysis of
2.65 million messages posted to 600 Usenet newsgroups over a six month period. The empirical findings prove that
(1) the average message complexity is reduced as the group size increases; (2) broadcast messages that seed
discourse are shorter than those that fail to seed discourse; and (3) the more number of posters, the more active
newsgroups are more unstable. These results can be interpreted that (1) users are more likely to respond to simpler
messages in overloaded mass interaction; (2) users are more likely to generate simpler responses as the overloading
of mass interaction grows; and (3) users are more likely to end active participation as the overloading of mass
interaction increases.
This article reflects that MIS scholars in 2000s pay attention on the impacts of IT on organizational communication.
Similar to the articles “Group Polarization and Computer-Mediated Communication: Effects of Communication
Cues, Social Presence, and Anonymity” by Sia, Tan, and Wei (2002), which examines how computer-mediated
communication (CMC) technology affects group polarization, and “Toward Contextualized Theories of Trust: The
Role of Trust in Global Virtual Teams” by Jarvenpaa (2004), which examines how trust affects attitudes and
behaviors of people engaged in IT-enabled relationships, this article studies the impacts of online interaction spaces
on their user interactions. Additionally, we can see a trend of information technology from this study. Based on the
article “Electronic Mail as a Medium for Rich Communication: An Empirical Investigation Using Hermeneutic
Interpretation” by Lee (1994), which employs e-mail as a medium of communication in the experiment of his study,
we may assume that in 1990s, e-mail is the most effective communication medium, while CMC, GSS, online group
discussion become a fashion in 2000s. The development of the technology is exposed in IS research. In the future,
we may be able to expect more research on organizational communication with more innovative information
technology.
A significant lesson learned from this article is the research methodology. Compared to the article of Sia, Tan, and
Wei (2002), the experiment is conducted on set-up settings with a small group size and dummy task topic. With
these characteristics, some bias may be created. The concern on this issue is usually raised on many articles that
conduct an experiment on the CMC or GSS tools. One example is the article “Conflict Management in a ComputerSupported Meeting Environment” by Poole, Holmes, and Desanctis (1991). On this paper, Poole, Holmes, and
Desanctis conduct a laboratory experiment to examine how GDSS influences conflict management in small groups
making budget allocation decision. The number of participants is small. Additionally, participants do not receive
any incentive by taking a part of the discussion. Even though, for the Sia, Tan, and Wei (2002)’ study, the incentive
is a grade for the class that participants are enrolling, they may join the activity without paying much attention on
the discussion. It appears to be very difficult to design laboratory studies with ecological validation to determine an
impact of communication technology on organizations or users. The results of the study may not be robust until an
experiment is conducted in real organizational settings or meticulous control settings. For the current study,
however, an experiment is conducted on an enormous number of Usenet newsgroups, including their posted
discussions, in actual settings. As such, the research approach used in this article does not limit the validity of
findings.
Another important lesson from this article is the affect of information overload on management. Ackoff (1967)
raises five misperceptions for IS designers in the article “Management Misinformation Systems.” One of those
assumptions is that the critical deficiency under which most managers operate is the lack of relevant information. It
is untrue. Instead, managers tend to receive too much irrelevant information. What Jones, Ravid, and Rafaeli (2004)
point out here is the reaction of managers once they receive information overload. Based on their study, managers
tend to respond to simpler messages, generate simpler responses, or end active participation. As such, one aspect
that an IS designer should keep in mind is that the proposed system should be developed in a way that can control
relevant information to managers.
IS 7890: IS Research Seminar
Spring 2006