Exploring IS phenomena through metaphors: insights from a study on Facebook

There has been a growing interest in the use of metaphors in information systems (IS) research. Notwithstanding the importance of metaphors and the growing interest among IS researchers, few attempts have been made to provide a review of how metaphors have been utilized in the IS literature. To provide the IS community with a general understanding of how metaphors have been utilized in IS research, we first review previous work on IS metaphors. Thereafter, we illustrate the usefulness of metaphors in IS research by drawing on a specific study that sought to provide rich insights into how participants of different age groups perceive and use Social Networking Sites (SNS) and Facebook in particular, given its popularity. These generational differences are exemplified through the use of visual metaphors related to social networking: teenagers’ playground, young adult’s bar, and mature users’ social club. The chapter concludes with reflections, implications, and recommendations for future research directions.