The inextricable intertwining of the firm, the platform and the customer: The case of a social media platform for innovation

The aim of this contribution is to explore the relationship between human actors and technology in the context of a social media platform, developed by a leading Italian firm in the food industry. In order to address these issues, we adopt a theoretical approach that is deeply rooted in Pickering’s “mangle” theory, and Jones’ subsequent metaphor of “double dance of agency”. We developed a longitudinal case study with two rounds of interviews with marketing and R&D managers. The contribution provides three main theoretical contributions. It provides detailed attention to the co-evolution over time of human-material entanglement, an aspect that papers in this area often omit. It provides a clear picture of a series of inter-related emergent phenomena, entangling managers, users, and the social media platform. It introduces further dimensions in the dancing metaphor. On the practical side, the double dance of agency perspective on this platform’s evolution also offers useful insight for practitioners.