""Don't Stop Believin'": Sustaining Attention for Slow-to-Emerge Technological Practices"

Dominant perceptions of technological progress posit that it "moves quickly." But many technologies and technology-enabled practices--from nuclear fusion to flying cars to standardized electronic health records--have been slow to emerge. To the extent that the literature explores this phenomenon, it has focused on why consumers adopt some technologies faster than others, offering answers that range from entrenched interests, to network effects, to regulation. By contrast, we have little insight into *how* organizations sustain attention, interest and investment in slow-to-emerge technologies and practices over long periods of time--until they *do* emerge. In this paper, we explore this question through an analysis of the media rhetoric surrounding telecommuting. USC researcher Jack Nilles proposed the term "telecommuting" in 1973 to describe the use of communication technologies to perform work remotely. Although the popular press showcased consistent enthusiasm for the idea, for at least three decades few people actually engaged in the practice. Our analysis reveals that diverse actors sustained attention to telecommuting by taking advantage of its interpretive flexibility--that is, its ability to be an apparent solution to a wide range of problems. These actions enabled producers to sell goods and services, and employers to appear to meet financial, social and regulatory mandates, even as the actual practice of telecommuting was limited. Our research contributes to research on technological enthusiasm and hype, and on the relationship between work and technology.