Conversation space
Dimitri Popolov, Michael Callaghan, Paul A. Luker · 2000
This paper explicates the metaphors used to conceive of asynchronous text-based communication (ATBC) software, such as email and newsgroups. Design of such software has been guided by an understanding of ATBC as essentially a text communication (textual metaphor). However, this mode of discourse has many similarities with oral communication as well. The interaction of oral and textual aspects in ATBC gives rise to a phenomenon of multithreaded discourse, where several discourse threads develop simultaneously, which is a unique property of this medium.