The Study of a Sequence: a narrative analysis of ICT practices

This study examines how�and why�Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sequences vary. Building on an earlier, 48-category, four-node, context-based model of ICT use, we analyze interviews with experienced users to learn the reasons for their sequences. The paper extends these individual strategies and the ICT model by displaying 24 different sequences possible from the four nodes of the model. When placed in a dynamic relationship, these nodes appear to vary in intensity and lose their distinctiveness, showing that sequence as a process changes the nature of its content. The key conclusion we draw from the likeness of our category nodes is that when these nodes are placed in a dynamic flow, the differences that were clear when the modelwas static suddenly fall away and the nodes begin to look more alike, as if they�re morphing into one another. It appears that they could almost be substituted for each other and the effects would remain the same.