在知識的理論中，最惹人注目的問題之一，就是概念和知識怎樣產生，以及經驗與新的組織有什麼關係，在這個問題上有兩大對立的理論：行為主義與認知主義。在認知主義□又有一個很重要的關鍵點，就是探討出「人何以得知」的疑問，而這個疑問經由許多學者的研究仍沒有一個整合性的概念。架構在學習認知的這個疑問下，本研究利用Weick「釋意」概念做為理解的工具，針對學生的複雜學習歷程進行分析，採用個案研究的方式來進行，以了解學生如何將學習環境予以結構化、理解、詮釋與分析，最後採納行動並進行預測。 資訊系統專案開發一直是資訊相關科系必要訓練之一。雖然此類資訊系統開發的規模不如業界，但是從學校教學的角度來看，透過一些實際個案的演練，學生應仍可獲得實務開發的經驗累積。而此種專題式的學習主要的重點在於學生如何運用團體的力量來獲得最佳的學習效果，因此團隊如何組成與運作，還有後續學習策略的運用對學生來說都是相當重要的。本研究個案一即以資料庫系統開發的十組學生團隊進行觀察，了解他們如何從自己的定位、組員的互動、領導角色的扮演到團隊集體共識的形成，而研究結果發現許多與實務專案團隊運作上相當不同之處，例如團隊領導與團隊情感的關係，分工型態的演變等。個案二建基於個案一的研究結果上，觀察學生的團隊狀況與他們所採行的學習策略之間的關係，研究結果亦發現學生之學習策略均建基於對團隊的認同上，對於學習環境的不同釋意也會影響所採行的學習策略。 最後本研究從團隊合作與學生學習策略的說明來補足認知理論的不足，並以多層次的分析架構，從學生個人認同、團隊認同、班級認同逐層擴展，確立在專題式學習中個人地位、團體地位與組織地位的重要性，同時共提出十二大命題說明研究結果。 / From the perspective of the theory of knowledge, the most critical question is how concept and knowledge are produced, what are the relationship between experience and the new group. There are two opposing theories of this question: the association theory and the cognitive theory. In cognitive theory, the key point is to confer the doubt of how people get knows. Based on the cognitive theory, this research explored students’ sensemaking in the team formation, operation, and learning strategies through observation and interviews. Developing an information system is a requisite training for all MIS students. The learning activities include system analysis and design, database, programming, team working, schedule planning, etc. Such a project-based leaning, a database management course, was chosen by this study. There were two cases. In the first case, this research observed ten student teams to interpret how sensemaking to be a central activity in the construction of both the learning environments and the environments it confronts. Students continuously interpreted the meaning of learning environments, adjusted their steps with other team members in order to finish an information system. The results indicate that the characteristics of student project teamwork are different from the real world. In the second case, this research explored the relationship of team working and learning strategies. The findings show that students adopt learning strategies through their organization identity. Different interpretation of environment cause distinct learning strategies that students use. Finally, this research provides complementary explanations to the cognitive theory and uses multi-level theorizing model to replenish students sensemaking process. Twelve propositions are introduced to understand the IS development process from students’ deep insides.

Cette recherche explore le sens que la « génération de l’information » (20-35 ans) donne à l’engagement. Alors que sociologues et médias ont longtemps brandi des chiffres alarmants concernant la désaffection électorale des jeunes et leur rejet des associations ou groupes de pression usuels, le développement du Web 2.0 semble donner lieu à de nouvelles formes d’action visant le changement social, qui sont particulièrement prisées par les jeunes. Analysant leur recours à des pratiques de manifestations éclairs (flash mobs), de cyberdissidence, l’utilisation du micro-blogging et des réseaux Facebook et Twitter dans le cadre de mobilisations récentes, des enquêtes suggèrent qu’elles témoignent d’une nouvelle culture de la participation sociale et politique, qui appelle à repenser les façons de concevoir et de définir l’engagement. Or, si nous assistons à une transformation profonde des répertoires et des modes d’action des jeunes, il demeure difficile de comprendre en quoi et comment l’utilisation des TIC influence leur intérêt ou motivation à « agir ». Que veut dire s’engager pour les jeunes aujourd’hui ? Comment perçoivent-ils le contexte social, politique et médiatique ? Quelle place estiment-ils pouvoir y occuper ? Soulignant l’importance du sens que les acteurs sociaux donnent à leurs pratiques, la recherche s’éloigne des perspectives technocentristes pour explorer plus en profondeur la façon dont de jeunes adultes vivent, expérimentent et interprètent l’engagement dans le contexte médiatique actuel. La réflexion s’ancre sur une observation empirique et deux séries d’entretiens en profondeur (de groupe et individuels), menés auprès de 137 jeunes entre 2009-2012. Elle analyse un ensemble de représentations, perceptions et pratiques d’individus aux horizons et aux modes d’engagement variés, soulignant les multiples facteurs qui agissent sur la façon dont ils choisissent d’agir et les raisons qui les mènent à recourir aux TIC dans le cadre de pratiques spécifiques. À la croisée d’une multiplication des modes de participation et des modes d’interaction qui marquent l’univers social et politique des jeunes, la recherche propose de nouvelles hypothèses théoriques et une métaphore conceptuelle, le « murmure des étourneaux », pour penser la façon dont les pratiques d’affichage personnel, de relais, et d’expérimentation mises en avant par les jeunes s’arriment en réseau à celles d’autrui pour produire des « dérives culturelles » : des changements importants dans les façons de percevoir, d’agir et de penser. Loin d’une génération apathique ou technophile, les propos soulevés en entretiens suggèrent un processus réflexif de construction de sens, dont l’enjeu vise avant tout à donner l’exemple, et à penser ensemble de nouveaux possibles. La recherche permet d’offrir un éclairage qualitatif et approfondi sur ce qui caractérise la façon dont les jeunes perçoivent et définissent l’engagement, en plus d’ouvrir de nouvelles avenues pour mieux comprendre comment ils choisissent d’agir à l’ère du Web. / This research explores the complex relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and how a younger “information age generation” (20-35 years old) makes sense of social and political engagement. While scholars and pundits have long underlined youth’s low electoral turnouts and its rebuff of traditional organizations, Web 2.0 tools seem to provide a younger generation with interactive platforms that have become crucial components of many social change projects. Analyzing movements supported trough e-mail lists and e-petitions, observing the orchestration of flash mobs, commenting on cyberactivism and the use of social network sites (such as Twitter and Facebook) during recent uprisings, studies suggest networked-based technologies have not only opened up opportunities and repertoires of action, they indicate a new participatory culture. One that calls into question the very meanings and definitions associated with “political engagement” and “social change”. Yet, if a large amount of studies now stress the importance of better understanding such practices, it remains difficult to grasp how and if the web is changing young people’s sense of “engagement”. Very little attention has been given to the evaluative weighting of alternatives, values, and meanings that motivate or impede young people to participate in specific actions for social change. How do young people define “engagement?” How do they perceive the general political, social and media context? How do they perceive their own situation within this context? Suggesting that the ways in which actors choose to mobilize cannot be fully understood without taking into account the meanings and activities they associate with social change, the research explores how engagement is actually experienced, how it looks and feels like for young adults in a complex media environment. Drawing on empirical fieldwork and two series of group and in-depth interviews conducted with 137 young adults (20-35 years olds) between 2009 and 2012, the analysis underlines the multiple factors that shape young people’s perception of political and social participation, how they choose to transform their own societies and how they use social media and Web 2.0 applications when striving to convey change. At the crossroad of two important factors that mark their social and political world – a multiplicity of interaction modes and a multiplicity of participatory practices – the research brings new thoughts to this growing field of study. It offers new theoretical hypotheses that help take into account the role played by virtual networks in the circulation of interpretations and meanings. It also suggests a conceptual metaphor, the “murmur of starlings”, to illustrate how practices of “posting”, “forwarding” and the relational dimensions involved in the everyday sharing of experiences, may translate into “cultural drifts ” – important shifts in collective ways of thinking, acting and perceiving. Looking beyond typical characterizations of a techno-savvy or apathetic generation, the picture emerging from the interviews reveals reflexive sense-making processes that inspire to widen new fields of possibilities. Overall, the research provides qualitative and in-depth insights into what characterizes the way young people perceive and define engagement and opens new perspective for better understanding how they choose to “act” in the Web 2.0 era.

During an incident, which is critical in nature, sense-making by the individuals involved are essential in ensuring an optimal response to the incident. The incident management systems employed to manage the allocation of resources to an incident allow for the visualisation of the incident and its constituents, and this visualisation supports sense-making by improving knowledge transfer. Knowledge visualisation contains pitfalls that can be avoided by implementing knowledge visualisation criteria. The purpose of this study is to identify the knowledge visualisation criteria that optimise the knowledge transfer by visual artifacts in incident management systems like emergency medical or fire-response systems. This study used the design science research (DSR) methodology and was conducted in the context of critical incident response management. A review of the existing literature was done to identify an initial set of knowledge visualisation criteria. The initial set was evaluated by content experts (using questionnaire driven interviews) and usability experts (using questionnaire driven interviews, usability testing with eye tracking and a survey) in the context of an emergency incident management system. The main contribution of this study is a validated set of knowledge visualisation criteria to guide knowledge transfer in incident management systems. / School of Computing / M. Sc. Computing

<p>At the centre of this study lies one of the critical questions faced by (late-)modern society, namely that of taking care of the long-lived radioactive waste from nuclear power production. The problems of nuclear waste management are pictured as embracing a complex web of essential issues for society today, in terms of both its capacities and its shortcomings – so called core issues. The principal aim of the thesis is to examine the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, Västerbotten, from a critical discourse analytical perspective, through applying the approach developed by Michel Foucault in The Order of Discourse.</p><p>During the 1990s, the municipality of Malå played a prominent role as a candidate site for the geological disposal of Sweden’s spent nuclear fuel. A five-year process culminated in a local referendum on whether detailed site investigations should be permitted within the community. Following the result no further investigations have been undertaken. The discourse analysis is carried out through a study of opinion formation in the municipality during the period October 1992 to October 1997. Two main types of empirical material have been collected: interviews with opinion leaders (politicians, activists, journalists, information professionals, etc.) and contemporaneous mass media content (the local newspaper and regional television news).</p><p>In the empirical analysis, a review is made of the workings of the external and internal control mechanisms within the discourse; that is to say, how they serve to set limits on the content and form of the sense-making process concerning nuclear waste management. Important themes in the opinion forming process in Malå include information and expertise, opposition and legitimacy, the centre/periphery relationship and the themes of mistrust, partitioning and rejection. Among other themes identified as being marginalised or absent, one example is the Samish citizens’ views on the nuclear question. Four actors play a prominent role as authors of the discourse, namely the nuclear industry, the experts, Greenpeace and the mass media. The voices of resistance groups are also significant. Representatives from authorities and civil servants were most likely to take the commentary role in the discourse, along with journalists.</p><p>In the concluding analysis of the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, two main types of desire for truth, which form the discourse’s main order, are identified. The stronger concerns the will to know, which places the expert with a scientific background as the principal truth-teller. The other is ‘ordinary’ people’s desire, which influences the content and form of the opinion formation. It is also concluded that the mass media institutions play a significant role in this context, not least as mediators. Reflections on contemporary ‘core issues’ to which the analysis bears witness, such as the crisis of democracy, are also included. In addition, the implications of applying the Foucaultian research programme to a study of the nuclear question have been considered. </p>

<p>The starting point for this study is the question of why organizational visions are often interpreted by employees as unintelligible and insignificant. The knowledge gap in this area makes the study of communication about vision and goals both urgent and interesting.</p><p>Accordingly, the purpose is to advance knowledge on communication processes in organizations through description and analysis of communication about strategy, encompassing vision, strategic objectives and common values, in a company.</p><p>A case study design was chosen and a longitudinal qualitative study was conducted in the company, from April 1998 to January 2000. A combination of methods were used, including participant observation, discourse analysis and interviews.</p><p>Communication about the strategy followed a typical top-down model, starting on group level and ending on department level. In this process, Balanced Scorecard was used as a tool to communicate the strategy.</p><p>It was concluded that visions formulated by top managers met different realities constructed by managers at lower levels in the company. Managers’ attitudes, knowledge and interpretations were important individual factors that influenced communication about the strategy. Employees did not have the same detailed knowledge of the strategy as the managers, nor were they given the same opportunities to obtain it.</p><p>The discourse analysis reveals power structures, conflicts, individual attitudes and perspectives. The study thus results in a deep understanding of communication problems in the organization.</p>

At the centre of this study lies one of the critical questions faced by (late-)modern society, namely that of taking care of the long-lived radioactive waste from nuclear power production. The problems of nuclear waste management are pictured as embracing a complex web of essential issues for society today, in terms of both its capacities and its shortcomings – so called core issues. The principal aim of the thesis is to examine the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, Västerbotten, from a critical discourse analytical perspective, through applying the approach developed by Michel Foucault in The Order of Discourse. During the 1990s, the municipality of Malå played a prominent role as a candidate site for the geological disposal of Sweden’s spent nuclear fuel. A five-year process culminated in a local referendum on whether detailed site investigations should be permitted within the community. Following the result no further investigations have been undertaken. The discourse analysis is carried out through a study of opinion formation in the municipality during the period October 1992 to October 1997. Two main types of empirical material have been collected: interviews with opinion leaders (politicians, activists, journalists, information professionals, etc.) and contemporaneous mass media content (the local newspaper and regional television news). In the empirical analysis, a review is made of the workings of the external and internal control mechanisms within the discourse; that is to say, how they serve to set limits on the content and form of the sense-making process concerning nuclear waste management. Important themes in the opinion forming process in Malå include information and expertise, opposition and legitimacy, the centre/periphery relationship and the themes of mistrust, partitioning and rejection. Among other themes identified as being marginalised or absent, one example is the Samish citizens’ views on the nuclear question. Four actors play a prominent role as authors of the discourse, namely the nuclear industry, the experts, Greenpeace and the mass media. The voices of resistance groups are also significant. Representatives from authorities and civil servants were most likely to take the commentary role in the discourse, along with journalists. In the concluding analysis of the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, two main types of desire for truth, which form the discourse’s main order, are identified. The stronger concerns the will to know, which places the expert with a scientific background as the principal truth-teller. The other is ‘ordinary’ people’s desire, which influences the content and form of the opinion formation. It is also concluded that the mass media institutions play a significant role in this context, not least as mediators. Reflections on contemporary ‘core issues’ to which the analysis bears witness, such as the crisis of democracy, are also included. In addition, the implications of applying the Foucaultian research programme to a study of the nuclear question have been considered.

In Zusammenhang mit der Einführung des Pflegeversicherungsgesetzes stellt die Arbeit die stationäre Altenpflege in Deutschland besonders dar. Im analytischen Rahmen der Arbeit wird der klassischen sozialwissenschaftlichen Unterteilung: Makro-Meso-Mikro eine zusätzliche Meta-Ebene hinzugefügt, welche den epistemologischen Hintergrund umfasst. Mit Hilfe des Modells der narrierenden Organisation kann so gezeigt werden, wie - am Beispiel der stationären Altenpflege - narrative Sinnstiftung in Organisationen abläuft. Dabei liegt ein Fokus darauf, was vom Außerorganisationalen des analytischen Rahmens in den sechs verschiedenen Fällen zur Sinnstiftung beiträgt. Nach einer sehr umfassenden qualitativen Auseinandersetzung schließt die Arbeit mit einem allgemeinen Modell, welches als Vorschlag zur Erforschung von Organisationen gesehen werden kann.

The starting point for this study is the question of why organizational visions are often interpreted by employees as unintelligible and insignificant. The knowledge gap in this area makes the study of communication about vision and goals both urgent and interesting. Accordingly, the purpose is to advance knowledge on communication processes in organizations through description and analysis of communication about strategy, encompassing vision, strategic objectives and common values, in a company. A case study design was chosen and a longitudinal qualitative study was conducted in the company, from April 1998 to January 2000. A combination of methods were used, including participant observation, discourse analysis and interviews. Communication about the strategy followed a typical top-down model, starting on group level and ending on department level. In this process, Balanced Scorecard was used as a tool to communicate the strategy. It was concluded that visions formulated by top managers met different realities constructed by managers at lower levels in the company. Managers’ attitudes, knowledge and interpretations were important individual factors that influenced communication about the strategy. Employees did not have the same detailed knowledge of the strategy as the managers, nor were they given the same opportunities to obtain it. The discourse analysis reveals power structures, conflicts, individual attitudes and perspectives. The study thus results in a deep understanding of communication problems in the organization.

Det finns lagar som reglerar hur företagen ska upprätta och slutföra sin redovisning och hur redovisningen utvecklas är ett ständigt pågående arbete. Bokföringsnämnden har sedan 2004 arbetat med att ta fram förenklade regler för svenska onoterade företag som benämns K-regelverket och har som syfte att underlätta för företagen i sin redovisning. Studien fokuserar på hur materiella anläggningstillgångar ska redovisas efter anvisningarna i K3.Värderingsförutsättningarna för materiella anläggningstillgångar har ändrats i och med en reglering i K3. Tillgångens anskaffningsvärde ska fördelas på komponenter istället för att redovisas som en helhet, detta för att tydligare spegla tillgångens förbrukningskapacitet. För att dela upp en tillgång ska komponenterna ha betydande värde i förhållande till tillgångens totala anskaffningsvärde. K3 är ett principbaserat regelverk vilket innebär att företagen får göra egna bedömningar och tolkningar i redovisningen vad det gäller uppdelning i komponenter. Då K3 inte ger någon vidare vägledning kan implementeringen bli en omfattande och problematisk process.Implementeringen kan komma att se olika ut för alla berörda företag eftersom förutsättningarna för företagen varierar. Vi använder oss i huvudsak av teorin meningsskapande för att studera hur implementeringen kan ske på ett meningsfullt sätt för företaget. I tidigare studier beskrivs det att när det handlar om att leta efter en kontext och göra en situation mer förutsägbar är meningskapande av betydelse. Syftet med studien är att försöka beskriva en tänkbar arbetsprocess som skapar mening vid implementeringen av komponentavskrivningar. I studien används den kvalitativa metoden i form av intervjuer, observationer och fokusgrupper för att få djupgående information för studiens genomförande. Vi utförde en fallstudie på Santa Maria som är ett företag som tillämpar K3 och som under 2014 ska införa komponentavskrivningar i sin redovisning.För att studera hur meningsskapande kan användas vid implementeringen har vi utgått ifrån Weicks sjustegsmodell för att beskriva en process som blir meningsfull för företagen. Beroende på företagets utgångspunkter kan olika delar vara mer eller mindre relevanta. I studien var fyra delar särskilt framträdande för Santa Maria. Studiens resultat visar att individens erfarenheter och kunskaper är förutsättningar för en meningsfull process. Det är också viktigt att individen får utrymme att visa sina kunskaper och bidra till organisationens utveckling. Processen utgår ifrån individens perspektiv för att sedan riktas mot organisationen. Studiens resultat lyfter främst fram delarna identitet, hur tidigare erfarenheter kan användas i nya situationer och fokus på ledtrådar, att det är viktigt att individernas kunskaper kombineras för att nå ett bättre resultat. Uppfylls dessa delar finns det förutsättningar att processen blir meningsfull. / Swedish unlisted companies face new accounting rules as the laws evolve. One example is the K-project which has been published by Bokföringsnämnden who decide the rules in Sweden to facilitate companies in their accounting. The tangible assets should be accounted for according to the instructions in K3 which this study focus on.Instead of reported an asset as a whole it will be allocated in components because of the new rules in K3. If the component has a significant value in relation to the total cost it will be divided into components in order to show the asset´s consumptions capacity more clearly. How companies are going to divide an asset in components is not regulated in K3 because it’s a principles-based regulatory framework. This means that the companies need to make their own judgment and interpretation when they identify theirs components. The implementation of component deprecation can therefore be a considerable and problematic process.Companies have different conditions and the implementation will vary between companies because of their own assessments. When we study how the implementation can be meaningful we use the theory sense making. Sense making can be used to understand and get knowledge about a situation, according to previous studies on the subject.The aim of the study is to describe a meaningful process when companies implements component deprecation in their accounting. The study was made with a qualitative method in order to get much information for the execution, we did interviews and observations. We have study Santa Maria who is preparing the implementation of component deprecation during 2014 by following the rules in K3. We have used Weick´s model with seven properties to show how sense making can be used when we describe a meaningful implementation process. The different part can be more or less relevant depending on the companies promises. In this study with Santa Maria there are four properties that are emphasized. The result shows that individual´s experience and knowledge are important elements for a meaningful process. Individuals should also use their knowledge and get the opportunity to be involved in the organization´s work. The process started from an individual perspective and during the process the focus shifted to the organization. The result of this study focus on the parts identity and plausibility over accuracy which shows how earlier knowledge are useful in a new situation and a combination of the experience is important for a better result. A condition to make the process meaningful is to make a combination of these two elements.

Cette recherche explore le sens que la « génération de l’information » (20-35 ans) donne à l’engagement. Alors que sociologues et médias ont longtemps brandi des chiffres alarmants concernant la désaffection électorale des jeunes et leur rejet des associations ou groupes de pression usuels, le développement du Web 2.0 semble donner lieu à de nouvelles formes d’action visant le changement social, qui sont particulièrement prisées par les jeunes. Analysant leur recours à des pratiques de manifestations éclairs (flash mobs), de cyberdissidence, l’utilisation du micro-blogging et des réseaux Facebook et Twitter dans le cadre de mobilisations récentes, des enquêtes suggèrent qu’elles témoignent d’une nouvelle culture de la participation sociale et politique, qui appelle à repenser les façons de concevoir et de définir l’engagement. Or, si nous assistons à une transformation profonde des répertoires et des modes d’action des jeunes, il demeure difficile de comprendre en quoi et comment l’utilisation des TIC influence leur intérêt ou motivation à « agir ». Que veut dire s’engager pour les jeunes aujourd’hui ? Comment perçoivent-ils le contexte social, politique et médiatique ? Quelle place estiment-ils pouvoir y occuper ? Soulignant l’importance du sens que les acteurs sociaux donnent à leurs pratiques, la recherche s’éloigne des perspectives technocentristes pour explorer plus en profondeur la façon dont de jeunes adultes vivent, expérimentent et interprètent l’engagement dans le contexte médiatique actuel. La réflexion s’ancre sur une observation empirique et deux séries d’entretiens en profondeur (de groupe et individuels), menés auprès de 137 jeunes entre 2009-2012. Elle analyse un ensemble de représentations, perceptions et pratiques d’individus aux horizons et aux modes d’engagement variés, soulignant les multiples facteurs qui agissent sur la façon dont ils choisissent d’agir et les raisons qui les mènent à recourir aux TIC dans le cadre de pratiques spécifiques. À la croisée d’une multiplication des modes de participation et des modes d’interaction qui marquent l’univers social et politique des jeunes, la recherche propose de nouvelles hypothèses théoriques et une métaphore conceptuelle, le « murmure des étourneaux », pour penser la façon dont les pratiques d’affichage personnel, de relais, et d’expérimentation mises en avant par les jeunes s’arriment en réseau à celles d’autrui pour produire des « dérives culturelles » : des changements importants dans les façons de percevoir, d’agir et de penser. Loin d’une génération apathique ou technophile, les propos soulevés en entretiens suggèrent un processus réflexif de construction de sens, dont l’enjeu vise avant tout à donner l’exemple, et à penser ensemble de nouveaux possibles. La recherche permet d’offrir un éclairage qualitatif et approfondi sur ce qui caractérise la façon dont les jeunes perçoivent et définissent l’engagement, en plus d’ouvrir de nouvelles avenues pour mieux comprendre comment ils choisissent d’agir à l’ère du Web. / This research explores the complex relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and how a younger “information age generation” (20-35 years old) makes sense of social and political engagement. While scholars and pundits have long underlined youth’s low electoral turnouts and its rebuff of traditional organizations, Web 2.0 tools seem to provide a younger generation with interactive platforms that have become crucial components of many social change projects. Analyzing movements supported trough e-mail lists and e-petitions, observing the orchestration of flash mobs, commenting on cyberactivism and the use of social network sites (such as Twitter and Facebook) during recent uprisings, studies suggest networked-based technologies have not only opened up opportunities and repertoires of action, they indicate a new participatory culture. One that calls into question the very meanings and definitions associated with “political engagement” and “social change”. Yet, if a large amount of studies now stress the importance of better understanding such practices, it remains difficult to grasp how and if the web is changing young people’s sense of “engagement”. Very little attention has been given to the evaluative weighting of alternatives, values, and meanings that motivate or impede young people to participate in specific actions for social change. How do young people define “engagement?” How do they perceive the general political, social and media context? How do they perceive their own situation within this context? Suggesting that the ways in which actors choose to mobilize cannot be fully understood without taking into account the meanings and activities they associate with social change, the research explores how engagement is actually experienced, how it looks and feels like for young adults in a complex media environment. Drawing on empirical fieldwork and two series of group and in-depth interviews conducted with 137 young adults (20-35 years olds) between 2009 and 2012, the analysis underlines the multiple factors that shape young people’s perception of political and social participation, how they choose to transform their own societies and how they use social media and Web 2.0 applications when striving to convey change. At the crossroad of two important factors that mark their social and political world – a multiplicity of interaction modes and a multiplicity of participatory practices – the research brings new thoughts to this growing field of study. It offers new theoretical hypotheses that help take into account the role played by virtual networks in the circulation of interpretations and meanings. It also suggests a conceptual metaphor, the “murmur of starlings”, to illustrate how practices of “posting”, “forwarding” and the relational dimensions involved in the everyday sharing of experiences, may translate into “cultural drifts ” – important shifts in collective ways of thinking, acting and perceiving. Looking beyond typical characterizations of a techno-savvy or apathetic generation, the picture emerging from the interviews reveals reflexive sense-making processes that inspire to widen new fields of possibilities. Overall, the research provides qualitative and in-depth insights into what characterizes the way young people perceive and define engagement and opens new perspective for better understanding how they choose to “act” in the Web 2.0 era.