Collaborating with writing tools: An instrumental perspective on the problem of computer-supported collaborative activities

This paper presents an analysis of the modifications that a synchronous computer support for collaborative writing introduces into the organization of co-authors' writing. The analysis is grounded in case studies of different groups of co-authors writing a report together face to face and at a distance through a collaborative writing computer system. Drawing from these studies I suggest that the problems with using a collaborative writing computer system to provide a fully collaborative writing environment derive from underlying assumptions concerning collaboration within the co-authoring activity. I point out that a more thorough understanding of how co-authors organize their writing can provide resources to envisage more radical solutions to the problem of computer support for collaboration. I conclude by considering ways that might be adequate to reconfigure collaborative writing systems in order to provide more satisfactory support for collaboration in writing environments.