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Abstract
As the strategic framing research expanded rapidly through the 1990s, scholars paid little explicit attention to the changes in frame deployment using digital communication channels. This dissertation illustrates two types of methods that organizations can use when engaging in online frame alignment. Paper one builds an information systems theory of organizational framing. We draw explicitly on framing theories from social movements research and build a process model for organizational framing. Our model illustrates the importance of both human and algorithmic assets in the detection of framing threats, the response formulation, and the deployment of a new frame. We use an illustrative case study to support the model and conclude with propositions for future research. Paper two presents a case study of a framing strategy in which a single social media message can be strategically framed in multiple ways, based on the individual interpretation of the message audience. In this paper, we show that online social networks offer features that afford new and creative ways to frame digital messages. We develop propositions to build a theory of digital differential framing. Our work demonstrates the value of conceptualizing information systems as channels forframing. Ultimately, an information systems lens enables us to see innovative ways to channel frame alignment efforts to organizational stakeholders. This dissertation serves as a proof-of-concept piece for two such methods and demonstrates the potential value for future research in this area.