A conceptual framework for the mutual shaping of platform features, affordances and norms on social media

This paper investigates the mutual shaping between social network platforms and social interactions by developing a framework of relevant platform features and the affordances they facilitate. More broadly, this framework will eventually serve to answer the question: which platform affordances influence norm building behavior in groups? The relevant affordances the authors identified are ‘interactability’, 'interventionability', 'ephemerality' and ‘external visibility’. These affordances are complementary to danah boyd's (2010) structural affordances of networked publics. Mapping the features that facilitate these affordances makes clear who can interact with whom, to which content people can be exposed to and who can make normative interventions. These affordances can affect social influence mechanisms and impact norm building in groups. This framework also show where the responsibilities lie in influencing group dynamics, and when newcomers are able to challenge the norms in a group interaction.