Exploration as an Attentional Mechanism

The idea of “exploration” is seldom found in the study of uses of digital technology,yet it is a key to understanding the nature of the engagement of users who diverge from the rigid constraints of a script. This attentional openingis dealt with in different ways by pragmatist theorists. Three understandings are provided by: A. Piette’s phenomenography of distracted action; A. Hennion’s pragmatics of objects and of passion; and L. Thévenot’s theory of regimes of engagement. The latter is applied to the study of an online game to show that the encouragement of curiosity demands an “emergent design” of the digital object that can cater for players’ essentially fragile exploratory engagement. Without this, we find the resurgence of a plan regime among certain users, leading to inequalities and sometimes crises.