Keskustelijats

Keskustelijats is a term that appears in a few niche discussion forums and online communities, primarily in the context of social science research and digital communication studies. The word is derived from the Finnish verb "keskustella," meaning "to discuss," and the suffix "-jats," which is a stylized plural form used informally. Scholars have used the term to describe groups of participants in mixed‑method research projects who engage in simultaneous verbal and written dialogue across multiple platforms, such as live chat, video conferencing, and collaborative document editing.

Despite the term’s appearance in conference proceedings and informal publications, there is no widely accepted definition in mainstream academic literature. The label is usually applied by early‑stage researchers from Finland who conduct exploratory studies on digital communication patterns in higher education and corporate training contexts. In these studies, Keskustelijats participants are often recruited through university mailing lists or professional networks and are asked to contribute to a series of dialogue exercises that combine synchronous and asynchronous modalities.

The primary focus of Keskustelijats initiatives is to examine how participants negotiate meaning, establish norms, and manage conflicts when interacting across multiple media. Researchers routinely analyze transcripts, metadata, and user‑generated artifacts to explore facilitation techniques, collaboration efficiency, and the role of virtual identity. Because the concept remains informal and has not yet undergone peer review, use of the term is generally restricted to the small circles of researchers engaged in digital communication practice and theory.