Ephemerality as temporal convergence of stability and transformation: Advancing concepts of time and temporality for information systems research

This thesis delineates ephemerality as a distinct temporal perspective and a new conceptual tool for information systems (IS) research. The research is structured around four key PhD research papers. The first key paper introduces Zygmunt Bauman’s sociological lens of liquid modernity, outlines core liquid-modern principles, and applies the principles to Covid-19-related IS contexts. The second paper shifts research focus from liquid modernity to ephemerality, a concept closely aligned with liquid-modern themes of fluidity, transience, and change. Through interdisciplinary review of six key disciplines - including philosophy, information systems, sociology, and organisation studies - the second key paper develops this study’s first iteration of a conceptual framework for ephemerality. The third paper strengthens the framework’s philosophical rationale by drawing on seminal processual texts. It also introduces digital trace data as an illustrative IS context for understanding ephemerality. The final key paper articulates the third and definitive thesis iteration of the ephemerality framework. Its applicability is then illustrated through analysis of a social media digital trace data case study, which examines a Covid-19 conspiracy theory that briefly went viral during the pandemic. The main contribution of this thesis is the ephemerality framework. Through the concepts of mechanical repetition and creative repetition, ephemerality is characterised as simultaneously short-lived and durable. The parsimonious delineation of framework concepts and their interrelations advances IS approaches to conceptualising time and temporality, particularly in relation to digital trace data. More broadly, the framework provides IS researchers with new temporal vocabulary and a structured and actionable temporal lens for holistic analysis of IS phenomena in ephemeral sociotechnical contexts.

Publisher

University of Galway

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND

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University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses)