What is affordance theory and how can it be used in communication research?
This work tackles a theoretical gap in communication research by adapting affordance theory for digital contexts, though it is incremental as it builds on existing ideas.
The paper addresses the limitation of affordance theory in explaining digital objects, where physical affordances lack intrinsic meaning due to social construction, and proposes reframing on-screen affordances as symbols through a semiotic approach.
Affordance theory proposes that the use of an object is intrinsically determined by its physical shape. However, when translated to digital objects, affordance theory loses explanatory power, as the same physical affordances, for example, screens, can have many socially constructed meanings and can be used in many ways. Furthermore, the affordance theory core idea that physical affordances have intrinsic, pre-cognitive meaning cannot be sustained for the highly symbolic nature of digital affordances, which gain meaning through social learning and use. A possible way to solve this issue is to think about on-screen affordances as symbols and affordance research as a semiotic and linguistic enterprise.