Multiplex conversations afforded by technology

This article presents results from a small-scale pilot study investigating linguistic production and structural patterns while multitasking and interrelating these findings with communicative context (field, tenor and mode). The explorative microanalysis shows that whereas the language used by the informant seems to be influenced by all three contextual variables, field, tenor and mode, the navigation between channels in this specific multiplex communication situation strongly correlates to the affordances of the mode of conversation and more specifically to the ways in which the informant receives indications that her reply requested. The article includes design considerations and a discussion concerning methodology and ethics. This study and the findings presented here are considered a first building block in constructing a theory for explaining communicative choices when multitasking