Digital artifacts as quasi‐objects: Qualification, mediation, and materiality

Abstract Digital artifacts have novel properties that largely derive from the processes that mediate their creation, and that can be best understood by a close examination of such processes. This paper introduces the concept of “quasi‐object” to characterize these objects and elucidate the activities that comprise their mediations. A case study of “bugs” is analyzed to illustrate exemplary activities of justification, qualification, and binding in the process of bug fixing in Free/Open Source Software development. The findings of the case study lead to broader reflections on the character of digital artifacts in general. The relationship of “quasi‐object” to other similar concepts are explored.