An Interdisciplinary Review of Ephemerality for Information Systems Research

Abstract

Ephemerality should be a significant concept for the information systems (IS) discipline but has not been developed as such. On the one hand, ephemerality is considered a characteristic of the IS “core” and focus, of data, information, and knowledge, and of digital material and the experience of digital technologies. On the other, IS reference to ephemerality is relatively scarce, and use of the term tends to implicitly rely upon the dictionary definition only. As a result, ephemerality is not well defined in the IS literature. Our aim in this study is to contribute to broader and deeper IS understanding of ephemerality. This is important because systems of people and technology are reformulating the meaning of ephemeral. Reformulating our understanding of ephemeral can improve our understanding of diverse, fast-paced, and quickly changing contexts for transfer and diffusion of digital technology. While our ultimate focus is ephemeral in digitalised contexts, our overarching focus is ephemerality as a standalone concept. We conduct an interdisciplinary review of the temporal and material qualities of the ephemeral in disciplines including sociology, philosophy, organisation studies, performance studies, new media studies, and IS. Out of this review, we propose a definition for ephemeral and develop a conceptual framework of ephemeral dimensions and characteristics, in which ephemerality is not only characterized by short-lived, unstable duration, but also by repetition, recombination, and durability. We conclude by briefly situating the framework in an IS context.