TY - CONF T1 - The Way I Talk to You: Sentiment Expression in an Organizational Context T2 - ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’12) Y1 - 2012 A1 - Jiang Yang A1 - Lada A. Adamic A1 - Mark S. Ackerman A1 - Wen, Zhen A1 - Lin, Ching-Yung KW - CMC KW - collaborative help KW - online communities AB -

Sentiment is a rich and important dimension of social interaction. However, its presence in computer-mediated communication in corporate settings is not well understood. This paper provides a preliminary study of people’s expression of sentiment in email conversations in an organizational context. The study reveals that sentiment levels evolve over time during the process of newcomers’ socialization, that sentiment varies according to tie-strength with the recipient, and that sentiment patterns can be indicative of one’s position in the corporate social network as well as job performance. These findings shed light on the complex and dynamic nature of sentiment patterns, and would inspire further explorations and applications of sentiment analysis in organizations.

JF - ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’12) UR - Complete ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Collaborative support for informal information in collective memory systems JF - Information Systems Frontiers Y1 - 2000 A1 - Ackerman, Mark S A1 - Mcdonald, David W KW - CMC KW - collaborative help KW - community memory KW - computer-mediated communications KW - corporate memory KW - cscw KW - expertise sharing KW - group memory KW - help KW - incremental formalization KW - informal information KW - information access KW - information refining KW - information retrieval KW - information systems KW - knowledge shairng KW - organizational memory KW - system AB -

Informal information, such as the expertise of an organization or the workarounds practiced by a community, is a critical part of organizational or collective memory systems. From a user-centered perspective, a user merely wishes to get his work done, and to do this, he must solve his immediate problems. We have examined how to incorporate this problem solving into a collective memory, as well as how to incorporate the learning that accrues to it or from it. We report here on two systems, the Cafe ConstructionKit and the Collaborative Refinery, as well as an application, Answer Garden 2, built using these two systems. The Cafe ConstructionKit provides toolkit mechanisms for incorporating communication flows among people (as well as agents) into an organizational memory framework, and the Collaborative Refinery system provides mechanisms for distilling and refining the informal information obtained through these communication flows. The Answer Garden 2 application demonstrates the utility of these two underlying systems.

VL - 2 UR - Complete ER - TY - CONF T1 - Just Talk to Me: A Field Study of Expertise Location T2 - Proceedings of the 1998 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'98) Y1 - 1998 A1 - McDonald, David W. A1 - Mark S. Ackerman KW - bug reporting KW - CMC KW - computer mediated communications KW - expert locators KW - expertise finding KW - expertise location KW - expertise networks KW - expertise sharing KW - information seeking KW - knowledge networks KW - knowledge sharing AB -

Everyday, people in organizations must solve their problems to get their work accomplished. To do so, they often must find others with knowledge and information. Systems that assist users with finding such expertise are increasingly interesting to organizations and scientific communities. But, as we begin to design and construct such systems, it is important to determine what we are attempting to augment. Accordingly, we conducted a five-month field study of a medium-sized software firm. We found the participants use complex, iterative behaviors to minimize the number of possible expertise sources, while at the same time, provide a high possibility of garnering the necessary expertise. We briefly consider the design implications of the identification, selection, and escalation behaviors found during our field study.

JF - Proceedings of the 1998 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'98) UR - Complete ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Hanging on the 'Wire: A Field Study of an Audio-only Media Space JF - ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction Y1 - 1997 A1 - Mark S. Ackerman A1 - Starr, Brian A1 - Hindus, Debby A1 - Scott D. Mainwaring KW - audio KW - audio spaces KW - CMC KW - computer-mediated communication KW - electronic social spaces KW - media spaces KW - mediated communication KW - norms KW - privacy KW - rich interactions KW - social interactions KW - social presence KW - speech interactions KW - telepresence AB -

The primary focus of this article is an analysis of an audio-only media space from a computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) perspective. To explore whether audio by itself is suitable for shared media systems, we studied a workgroup using an audio-only media space. This media space, called Thunderwire, combined high-quality audio with open connec-tions to create a shared space for its users. The two-month field study provided a richly nuanced understanding of this audio spaces social use. The system afforded rich sociable interactions. As well, users were able to create a useful, usable social space; however, through an analysis of the social norms that the participants formulated, we show that they had to take into account being in an audio-only environment. Within the field study, then, audio by itself was sufficient for a usable media space and a useful social space, but users were forced to adapt to many audio-only and system conditions. The article also considers audios implications for privacy.

VL - 4 UR - Complete IS - 1 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Answer Garden 2: Merging Organizational Memory with Collaborative Help T2 - Proceedings of the 1996 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'96) Y1 - 1996 A1 - Mark S. Ackerman A1 - McDonald, David W. KW - CMC KW - collaborative help KW - community memory KW - computer-mediated communications KW - corporate memory KW - expertise sharing KW - group memory KW - help KW - information access KW - information refining KW - information retrieval KW - information systems KW - knowledge sharing KW - organizational memory AB -

This research examines a collaborative solution to a common problem, that of providing help to distributed users. The Answer Garden 2 system provides a secondgeneration architecture for organizational and community memory applications. After describing the need for Answer Garden 2’s functionality, we describe the architecture of the system and two underlying systems, the Cafe ConstructionKit and Collaborative Refinery. We also present detailed descriptions of the collaborative help and collaborative refining facilities in the Answer Garden 2 system

JF - Proceedings of the 1996 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'96) UR - Complete ER - TY - CONF T1 - Thunderwire: A Field Study of an Audio-only Media Space T2 - Proceedings of the 1996 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'96) Y1 - 1996 A1 - Hindus, Debby A1 - Mark S. Ackerman A1 - Scott D. Mainwaring A1 - Starr, Brian KW - audio KW - audio spaces KW - CMC KW - computer-mediated communication KW - electronic social spaces KW - media spaces KW - mediated communication KW - norms KW - rich interactions KW - social interactions KW - social presence KW - speech interactions KW - telepresence AB -

To explore the potential of using audio by itself in a shared media system, we studied a workgroup using an audio-only media space. This media space, called Thunderwire, combined high-quality audio with open connections to create a shared space for its users. The two-month field study provided a richly nuanced understanding of this audio space's social use. The system afforded rich sociable interactions. Indeed, within the field study, audio by itself afforded a telepresent environment for its users. However while a usable media space and a useful social space, Thunderwire required its users to adapt to many audio-only conditions.

JF - Proceedings of the 1996 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'96) UR - Complete ER - TY - CONF T1 - The Zephyr Help Instance: Promoting Ongoing Activity in a CSCW System T2 - Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI"96) Y1 - 1996 A1 - Mark S. Ackerman A1 - Palen, Leysia KW - CMC KW - collaborative help KW - collective help KW - computer-mediated communications KW - e-communities KW - electronic social spaces KW - expertise sharing KW - help KW - knowledge sharing KW - media spaces KW - norms KW - organizational interfaces KW - social maintenance AB -

If Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) systems are to be successful over time, it will be necessary to promote ongoing and continuing activity, not just initial adoption. In this paper, we consider what technical and social affordances are required to encourage the continued use of a CSCW system. To explore these issues, we examine a chat-like system, the Zephyr Help Instance, which is used extensively at MIT. The Help Instance facilitates users asking questions of one another, and is an example of a distributed help and problem-solving system. We provide an overview of the system’s use as well as those mechanisms, both technical and social, that facilitate continuing its use over time.

JF - Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI"96) UR - Complete ER -