Actor-Network Theory and the Online Investor

An actor-network analysis of the way in which online investors use Internet-based services has revealed a phenomenon that is not commonly reported in actor-network theory research. An aspect of the research that emerged from interviews of a wide range of online investors is a peculiar effect of changes in non-human actors on the human actors. In this paper, the authors report on the particular case and postulate that this effect may be found, if looked for, in many other actor-network theory applications. DOI: 10.4018/jantti.2012040103 26 International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 4(2), 25-31, April-June 2012 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. using online forums such as chat rooms. For some investors, there was also a community or hobby aspect to their investing activities – they were part of an investment club or often communicated with others about investing, both online and offline (Kingsford-Smith & Williamson, 2004). How people use information systems has been a prominent research question for many years, and yet researchers have recently stressed how little we understand about system usage (Burton-Jones & Gallivan, 2007). “Despite being an important construct, IS use is still weakly conceptualized and operationalized as frequency, duration, or variety of system functions used” (Barki, Titah, & Boffo, 2007). “Researchers must also consider the nature, extent, quality, and appropriateness of the system use” (DeLone & McLean, 2003). BurtonJones has proposed that system usage should be investigated by taking three elements into consideration: the System, the User and the Task. He has classified system usage measurements from ‘Very Lean’ to ‘Very Rich’ (Figure 1) (Burton-Jones & Straub, 2006). A great deal of research has investigated why people use information systems. The research reported here was looking at the way they are used; the nature of the interactions between the technology and the person. This study, of the nature and practice of use of technology rather than the reasons for its adoption, is particularly apt for the application of actornetwork theory and allows investigation of the ‘very rich’ nature of technology use. An extensive study using an Actor-Network Theory approach was conducted. The results of the wider study are reported elsewhere. The purpose of this paper is to present an unusual finding that emerged within the study. The contention presented here is that an enduring network of mostly non-human actors has, in effect, produced an ongoing translation of humans.