{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109272"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109272","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Understanding Challenges of Online Group Chat for Productive Discourse at Scale","abstract":"Group chat facilitates remote collaboration and idea exchanges. With the widespread use of group chat for productive information exchanges, it becomes dicult for members of groups to keep up and stay grounded during the long stream of conversation that is generated. I conducted a need-finding study where I simulated group chat conversations in the context of collaboration to learn about issues and behaviors in a group chat when the size of the group chat is 5 or 10. The study participants also filled out a survey post the group chat, describing their challenges and issues with the group chat. A grounded theory approach analyses of the data collected, and the chat conversation gave us several themes. Our results show that participants generally felt that there were too many messages. A majority of the participants found it was hard to keep track of what was happening. Information overload is a significant challenge that creates several other challenges for the participants, such as missed messages, redundant messages, wasted e↵orts, and diculty in gathering consensus. I observed some behaviors such as broken utterances and other strategies employed by participants when overwhelmed with the high activity. I use this knowledge to motivate recommendations and suggestions for future redesigns and development of this indispensable tool of the workforce","abstract_html":"Group chat facilitates remote collaboration and idea exchanges. With the widespread use of group chat for productive information exchanges, it becomes dicult for members of groups to keep up and stay grounded during the long stream of conversation that is generated. I conducted a need-finding study where I simulated group chat conversations in the context of collaboration to learn about issues and behaviors in a group chat when the size of the group chat is 5 or 10. The study participants also filled out a survey post the group chat, describing their challenges and issues with the group chat. A grounded theory approach analyses of the data collected, and the chat conversation gave us several themes. Our results show that participants generally felt that there were too many messages. A majority of the participants found it was hard to keep track of what was happening. Information overload is a significant challenge that creates several other challenges for the participants, such as missed messages, redundant messages, wasted e↵orts, and diculty in gathering consensus. I observed some behaviors such as broken utterances and other strategies employed by participants when overwhelmed with the high activity. I use this knowledge to motivate recommendations and suggestions for future redesigns and development of this indispensable tool of the workforce","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pasad, Viral Shrikant"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Computer Science and Applications","degree_department":"Computer Science","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Lee, Sang Won"],"committee_members":["Tatar, Deborah Gail","Mitra, Tanushree"],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-09-14","date_published":"2020-09-14","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:31Z","subjects":["Group Chat","Instant Messaging","Productive Discourse"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:27349"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:27349","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/109272","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Lee, Sang Won"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Tatar, Deborah Gail","Mitra, Tanushree"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pasad, Viral Shrikant"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-03-09T07:00:12Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-03-09T07:00:12Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2020-09-14"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science and Applications"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Group Chat","Instant Messaging","Productive Discourse"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:27349"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/109272"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Group chat facilitates remote collaboration and idea exchanges. With the widespread use of group chat for productive information exchanges, it becomes dicult for members of groups to keep up and stay grounded during the long stream of conversation that is generated. I conducted a need-finding study where I simulated group chat conversations in the context of collaboration to learn about issues and behaviors in a group chat when the size of the group chat is 5 or 10. The study participants also filled out a survey post the group chat, describing their challenges and issues with the group chat. A grounded theory approach analyses of the data collected, and the chat conversation gave us several themes. Our results show that participants generally felt that there were too many messages. A majority of the participants found it was hard to keep track of what was happening. Information overload is a significant challenge that creates several other challenges for the participants, such as missed messages, redundant messages, wasted e↵orts, and diculty in gathering consensus. I observed some behaviors such as broken utterances and other strategies employed by participants when overwhelmed with the high activity. I use this knowledge to motivate recommendations and suggestions for future redesigns and development of this indispensable tool of the workforce"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Group chat facilitates remote collaboration, idea exchanges. It becomes dicult for members of groups to keep up and remain on the same page during long conversations. I conducted experiments where I simulated collaborative group chat conversations to learn about issues and behaviors in a group chat with 5 or 10 members. The experiment participants also filled out a survey after the group chat, describing their challenges and issues with the group chat. Qualitative analyses of the survey data, and the chat conversation gave us several insights. Our results show that participants generally felt that there were too many messages. A ma- jority of the participants found it was hard to keep track of what was happening. Information overload is a significant challenge that creates several other problems for the participants, such as missed messages, repeated messages, wasted e↵orts, and diculty in obtaining agree- ment. I observed some behaviors and strategies used by the participants when overwhelmed with too many messages. I use this knowledge to motivate recommendations and suggestions for future redesigns and development of this indispensable tool of the workforce."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Understanding Challenges of Online Group Chat for Productive Discourse at Scale"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Lee, Sang Won"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Tatar, Deborah Gail","Mitra, Tanushree"],"dc:contributor.department":["Computer Science"],"dc:creator":["Pasad, Viral Shrikant"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-03-09T07:00:12Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-03-09T07:00:12Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2020-09-14"],"dc:description.abstract":["Group chat facilitates remote collaboration and idea exchanges. With the widespread use of group chat for productive information exchanges, it becomes dicult for members of groups to keep up and stay grounded during the long stream of conversation that is generated. I conducted a need-finding study where I simulated group chat conversations in the context of collaboration to learn about issues and behaviors in a group chat when the size of the group chat is 5 or 10. The study participants also filled out a survey post the group chat, describing their challenges and issues with the group chat. A grounded theory approach analyses of the data collected, and the chat conversation gave us several themes. Our results show that participants generally felt that there were too many messages. A majority of the participants found it was hard to keep track of what was happening. Information overload is a significant challenge that creates several other challenges for the participants, such as missed messages, redundant messages, wasted e↵orts, and diculty in gathering consensus. I observed some behaviors such as broken utterances and other strategies employed by participants when overwhelmed with the high activity. I use this knowledge to motivate recommendations and suggestions for future redesigns and development of this indispensable tool of the workforce"],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Group chat facilitates remote collaboration, idea exchanges. It becomes dicult for members of groups to keep up and remain on the same page during long conversations. I conducted experiments where I simulated collaborative group chat conversations to learn about issues and behaviors in a group chat with 5 or 10 members. The experiment participants also filled out a survey after the group chat, describing their challenges and issues with the group chat. Qualitative analyses of the survey data, and the chat conversation gave us several insights. Our results show that participants generally felt that there were too many messages. A ma- jority of the participants found it was hard to keep track of what was happening. Information overload is a significant challenge that creates several other problems for the participants, such as missed messages, repeated messages, wasted e↵orts, and diculty in obtaining agree- ment. I observed some behaviors and strategies used by the participants when overwhelmed with too many messages. I use this knowledge to motivate recommendations and suggestions for future redesigns and development of this indispensable tool of the workforce."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:27349"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/109272"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Group Chat","Instant Messaging","Productive Discourse"],"dc:title":["Understanding Challenges of Online Group Chat for Productive Discourse at Scale"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science and Applications"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:31Z"}