Consideration in software-mediated social interaction

Software-mediated interactions introduce a new set of etiquettes not necessarily analogous to face-to-face interactions. Current software systems are not prepared to accommodate how users differ in their perception of the considerate nature of an interaction. Being socially inconsiderate affects the relationship between colleagues, their cooperation level, willingness to interact and, ultimately, the entire business. Hence, software acting on behalf of people or facilitating their interaction should be expected to support a rationale where both socialness and business goals are recognised. However, despite this vital role, the sociality of business interactions has rarely been considered within information systems development and research, even among areas that attempt to align the system with business needs. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study, following a mixed method approach, trying to explore the users´ attitude and their perception of the elements of consideration in software-mediate interaction and what they would expect future software to provide in relation to consideration. We list a set of research challenges for information systems which embed consideration as a main social requirement.