Multimodality/
Sociotechnical Analysis

Dimitra L. Milioni , Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
dimitra.milioni@cut.ac.cy

Today, social media, online platforms, and mobile phone applications are ubiquitous for the expression of opinion. Various research methods were recently developed to understand how people express opinions on such media, informed by principles of Actor-Network Theory and Science and Technology Studies. Interfaces are essentially multimodal as they comprise semiotic, discursive, and technological elements. A sociotechnical approach to expression of opinion on such media is based on the premise that their design is not neutral but contains certain norms that ‘produce’ user identities and uses, and hence affect the expression of opinion. Two methods that can be used to study interfaces critically are Discursive Interface Analysis and the Walkthrough method, combining the semiotic tradition, discourse analysis, and affordance analysis. Stanfill discusses Discursive Interface Analysis that looks at functional affordances (functionalities, i.e. what one can do), cognitive affordances (meaning-making of technological features), and sensory affordances (aesthetic aspects of features). The Walkthrough method focuses on apps, and sheds light on their intended purpose: embedded cultural meanings and implied ideal users and uses. It is based on the analysis of the environment of expected use (vision, operating model, governance) and the technical walkthrough, which includes user interface arrangements, functions and features, textual content and tone, and symbolic representation. Such methods offer valuable conceptual and methodological tools to understand how people express opinions in social media platforms and apps from a critical, interdisciplinary perspective.

Keywords: discursive interface analysis, sociotechnical approach, walkthrough

Related Entries: Multimodality/Semiotics, Mode, Modality

References:
Bijker, W.E., & Law, J. (Eds.). (1992). Shaping technology/building society: Studies in sociotechnical change. The MIT Press.
Light, B., Burgess, J., & Duguay, S. (2018). The walkthrough method: An approach to the study of apps. New Media & Society, 20(3), 881–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816675438
Stanfill, M. (2015). The interface as discourse: The production of norms through web design. New Media & Society, 17(7), 1059–1074. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814520873