| Summary: | In this research project composed of multiple case studies, I focused on how bona
fide virtual groups appropriated multiple media to facilitate group boundary construction
and boundary management, which are preconditions of group identity formation.
Specific topics explored in the study included how virtual groups socially constructed
their group boundaries through recurring patterns of media use as well as other
communication practices, how the group boundaries were preserved and blurred in both
internal and external communication, and how bona fide groups managed dialectal
tensions in interacting with external groups.
To explore those research questions, I conducted four in-depth case studies of
real life groups operating in natural contexts. Multiple qualitative methods of data
collection were employed in the study and a modified grounded theory method was used
in analyzing the collected data. As a result, the study found that the groups studied
constructed group boundaries through communication practices such as making sense of common goals, negotiation of task jurisdiction with other interlocking groups,
distinguishing patterns of ingroup interaction from those of outgroup interactions, and
through developing group specific patterns and norms of media combination and media
use. Group boundaries were preserved when the influence of outgroup members were
constrained through media use, such as excluding them from team conference calls,
filtering messages from external groups or members, and using boundary spanners to
interact with external members. Group boundaries were blurred when intergroup
communication impacted internal dynamics and when norms and practices were
transferred from other contexts into a given group context. The study suggested that
technology adaptation and boundary management occurred simultaneously. In addition,
the groups experienced dialectical tensions in face of the permeability of group
boundaries and developed communication tactics to deal with those tensions. Theoretical
implications of the study were also discussed.
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