[1] The term was coined by Reinsch, Turner, and Tinsley, who proposed that simultaneous conversations can be conducted using an array of media, including face-to-face, phone, and email tools for communication.
[2] Multi-communicating has evolved with the rapid development of information and communications technology (ICT), where behavior within digital media applications like Slack and Skype thrive.
[12] Another concept in multi-communication is Daft and Lengel's research on media richness theory, which concerns how employees choose which technologies to use in the workplace.
[17] Research suggests that there are two characteristics that help to determine a person's choice of communication media when engaging in multi-communicating: compartmentalization and flexibility of tempo.
[15] Several factors may help to determine the outcomes of an episode of multi-communicating, including intensity, the topic of conversation, equivocality, and the presence allocator[clarification needed].
The intensity of communication is one of the key factors in multi-communicating because it helps to predict the amount of attention and importance a specific conversation holds.
Similarly, the more divergent the topics or themes of conversation, the bigger the cognitive strain on the presence allocator and the higher the chance for confusion.
Reinsch and Turner's study suggests that the higher the potential for equivocality in a conversation, the more likely an individual is to pick a medium of communication that is rich in contextual cues or has high media-richness.
The physiological and cognitive perspectives are presented in presence allocators,[15] which typically show how people are able to think faster than they are able to speak or type.
[1] Research suggests that presence allocators have the most successful experiences with multi-communicating episodes when engaged in multiple conversations with contextually appropriate media around similar topics.
Significant numbers of research subjects also indicate that they prefer to stay away from multi-communicating altogether when it comes to important conversations that require strong attention.
The media capabilities of these platforms, including integration for diverse ICTs, enable affordances for both highly adaptable and centralized team communication practices.
A recent study shows that team-communication platforms enable affordances for multi-communication and attention allocation, including flexible scaling of media modality and synchronicity.
[28] In organizational settings, research suggests that the decision by individuals to use informational technologies is influenced by what they observe other members in the organization doing, which is positively correlated to their multi-communicational behaviors.
[19] Likewise, depending on the organizational culture, multi-communicating can become crucial and bear negative effects in a professional or office setting.
Conversely, research suggests that employees who follow organizational communication norms receive higher performance ratings than those who do not.
[30] Relating to this point, Belanger and Watson made a study exploring how virtual team members structure their use of multiple media to attain strategic goals.
After conducting empirical research, she claims that multi-communicating, contrary to popular belief, may render an individual less accessible, less productive, and potentially more rude in certain professional contexts.
Paskewitz and Beck conducted research about texting during workplace meetings, and determined that women perceive individuals who practice multi-communicating more negatively than men.