Being in Two Spaces at Once:
Virtual Meetings and Their Representation
By Christina Wasson
This article examines the meetings of virtual teams in a corporate workplace. I explore how these meetings are different from the face-to-face meetings that have historically been analyzed by linguistic anthropologists. In particular, I investigate the ramifications of team membersability to participate in two interactional spaces at the same time. Goffman s writings are used to develop an analytical framework that accommodates the new possibilities and constraints afforded to participants in virtual meetings. The development of a transcription system to visually represent these encounters is also described as an integral part of the analysis process. This research contributes to an emerging focus in linguistic anthropology on technology-mediated communication.
Video Examples
We are currently locating the missing video files Figure 4 – 12.
Figure 4: The Effect of Muting
[flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/BeingInTwoSpacesAtOnce-Jla1612006/Fig.5-FaceToFace_512kb.mp4 /]Figure 5: Face to Face [flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/BeingInTwoSpacesAtOnce-Jla1612006/Fig.6-Multitasking-CheckingEmail_512kb.mp4 /]Figure 6: Multitasking – Checking Email [flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/BeingInTwoSpacesAtOnce-Jla1612006/Fig.7-Multitasking-CheckingEmailOverTime_512kb.mp4 /]Figure 7: Multitasking – Checking Email Over Time [flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/BeingInTwoSpacesAtOnce-Jla1612006/Fig.8-Multitasking-ReadingDocuments_512kb.mp4 /]Figure 8: Multitasking – Reading Documents [flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/BeingInTwoSpacesAtOnce-Jla1612006/Fig.11-ExampleOfJoeMultitasking_512kb.mp4 /]Figure 11: Example of Joe Multitasking [flashvideo filename=http://www.archive.org/download/BeingInTwoSpacesAtOnce-Jla1612006/Fig.12-CoworkersComplimentJoe_512kb.mp4 /]Figure 12: Coworkers Compliment Joe
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