2023

Suortti, Camilla Sofia; Sivunen, Anu

Digitalization has become pervasive not only in the working life but also in other life domains, making human interaction increasingly technology-mediated and creating tensions and paradoxes when navigating these different domains. Previous research has shown that tensions and paradoxes are an inherent part of communication technology use. However, much less is known about how those tensions and paradoxes intertwine with each other. Thus, this study applies tensions and their entanglements as a framework to identify how different tensions related to communication technology use knot together and are navigated by media workers. Twenty semi-structured thematic interviews were conducted, and the data were analyzed iteratively according to thematic content analysis methods and applying elements of contrapuntal analysis. The findings indicate an emergence of a tensional knot consisting of two interwoven tensions and two paradoxes in media workers’ technology use. The theoretical and practical implications of the entangled tensions and paradoxes related to communication technology use are discussed. By investigating the interweaving of these tensions and paradoxes, this study contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding of multiple organizational tensions related to communication technology use and their forming of a tensional knot.