An Actor Network Approach to Informing Clients through Portals

Portals are often seen as an appropriate method of informing clients. A problem of all web based solutions to informing clients is that the web is passive: clients must come to the web site. Approaches to research into use of portals are usually socio-technical, with common use of statistical techniques applied to survey results. Here we argue, informed by two detailed cases, that an actor network theory approach yields better results, more efficiently, when the case involves a number of small businesses being the clients. Alternative theories such as diffusion theories, based on the work of Rodgers and others, are more applicable when large, statistical effects are being anticipated.

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