Reproduced and emergent genres of communication on the World-Wide Web

The World-Wide Web is growing quickly and being applied to many new types of communications. As a basis for studying organizational communications, Yates and Orlikowski (1992; Orlikowski and Yates, 1994) proposed using genres. They defined genres as "typified communicative actions characterized by similar substance and form and taken in response to recurrent situations" (Yates and Orlikowski, 1992, p. 299). They further suggested that communications in a new media, such as the World-Wide Web, will show both reproduction or adaptation of existing communicative genres as well as the emergence of new genres. We examined 100 randomly selected Web pages and categorized the type of genre represented. Many of the genres we found, such as books, scripts, etc., were familiar from the paper world, while a few, such as hotlists and home pages, were unique to the Web. Perhaps most interestingly, we saw a few examples of genres being adapted to take advantage of the linking and interactivity of the new medium, such as solicitations for help and genealogies. Genres are useful because they are more easily recognized and understood by recipients of the communications. Therefore, we suggest that Web site designers consider the genres that are appropriate Reproduced and emergent genres of communication on the World-Wide Web http://crowston.syr.edu/papers/webgenres.html (1 de 22) [29/10/2003 17:10:26] for their situation and attempt to reuse familiar genres. More explicit attention to genres may also speed the wider acceptance of newly emerging genres of communication unique to the Web.