CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Cite as: Schaefer, D., & Dervin, B. (2001, July). Dialoguing in electronic public spheres: Reconceptualizing verbing as verbing micro-practices. Paper presented at the Rochester Intercultural Conference, The Intercultural World and the Digital Connection, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.
© David J. Schaefer and Brenda Dervin (2001).

ABSTRACT:
In this paper we argue that the usual approaches to studying communication in Internet-based public spheres are too limited and prevent us from pinpointing how communication behaviors either inhibit or facilitate dialogue. We propose an analytic informed by Sense-Making Methodology’s communication-as-procedure framework in order to explicate dialogic activity as participants discuss potentially contentious issues. In particular, we focus on verbings: dynamic communicative micro-practices through which participants make and unmake actually existing public spheres. To illustrate, we analyze 1,360 postings contributed to three pedagogical online discussion groups devoted to issues of race and popular/elite culture. We demonstrate that a focus on grounded communicative behaviors allows us to zoom in on the active production/reproduction of social structures, enabling a better understanding of dialogic processes that can lead to the creation of more effective public spheres.

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For Schaefer,
See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistschaefer.html.
For Dervin,
See:  http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistdervin.html.