Navigating Work

Abstract

When you talk with people about the link between SNSs and work, often the discussion centres on whether or not they should be used at work and problems of clashes between personal and work life. This issue of collapse of contexts is often mentioned in the literature, particularly as related to discussions about the presentation of self (boyd 2006, DiMicco and David 2007, Kendall 2007). Of course collapse of contexts is not something restricted to work, as boyd and Kendall would be quick to point out. Moreover, such collapse of contexts generally, and in relation to work, pre-date SNSs. For example, prior to the Industrial Revolution, it was common for work to be undertaken at home. Home was work, and work was home, for those engaging in the cottage industries. Indeed, it is helpful here to highlight that today, such arrangements exist across both developed and developing economic contexts. The blurring of contemporary home and work is not restricted to cottage industries or farming; for example, developments in information and communication technologies have facilitated the rise of home-based working for certain occupational groups. The debate regarding the boundary between home and work continues and has to some extent been amplified by the pervasiveness of SNSs formany people. I believe that SNSs have done two key things in this respect.