Discourse analysis in IS research: constructing presence in virtual organizing

The paper argues for the use of discourse analysis in information systems research by drawing on a discourse analysis study of virtual organizing. It identifies a range of issues and potentials in the use of discourse analysis both as a theoretical and a methodological approach in this field of research. The paper presents a study of a virtual team project and takes a particular focus on the discursive patterns of presence. It succeeds in identifying three different articulations of presence in virtual organizing which have not been previously recognised in the literature. It concludes with the argument that these discursive articulations of presence are central to understanding virtual organizing and that discourse is an important object of analysis for studies in IS.