Computers don't support conversation well, particularlyasynchronous conversations among groups. Such conversations often lackcoherence, tending towards drift, dissolution or chaos. The object ofthis study-a conversation that repeatedly succeeds in producing coherentresults-is a counterexample. Two features seem important: it isstructured by the conventions of a well-known genre, and as it proceedsit develops new conventions. This paper analyzes the emergence andenforcement of the conversation's conventions over the course of a year,and examines the interplay between the conventions and the userinterface, concluding with suggestions on how to design systems whichsupport more coherent conversation
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