{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T17:58:32Z","timestamp":1790791112195,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790726400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Semi-closed, cross-organizational instant messaging (IM) environments combine bounded membership with rapid communication across organizational boundaries. Building on research showing that expertise is distributed across professional networks, this study examines how journalists describe the coordination through which dispersed knowledge becomes collectively usable under time-critical conditions. A cross-organizational LINE group comprising Taiwanese television political journalists provides a revelatory case of digitally mediated epistemic coordination. Drawing on qualitative interviews with twelve participants across two experience cohorts, the study analytically reconstructs three interrelated mechanisms from recurrent patterns in participants\u2019 accounts: the situational redistribution of epistemic authority, the externalization of tacit reasoning into interpretable cues, and the distributed assembly of interpretive support. The first author\u2019s long-term insider experience served as interpretive context rather than independent evidence. Together, these mechanisms characterize digitally mediated epistemic coordination in the focal case: across participants\u2019 accounts, distributed expertise became visible, evaluable, and actionable under time pressure. Participants also retrospectively linked repeated participation in such coordination to shifts in professional practice, describing sustained exposure to peers\u2019 reasoning and evaluative criteria as contributing to the recalibration of their interpretive orientations. Taken together, the findings portray the focal LINE group as a consequential infrastructure for professional knowledge coordination under time-critical conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0359728","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T17:32:26Z","timestamp":1790789546000},"page":"e0359728","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Knowledge coordination in a semi-closed IM network under time-critical conditions: Making distributed expertise actionable"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6896-2843","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Chih-Hsiung","family":"Chang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Network Learning Technology, National Central University","place":["Taiwan"]},{"name":"National Taiwan University of Arts","place":["Taiwan"],"department":["Department of Radio and Television"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6265-1453","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jie Chi","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Network Learning Technology, National Central University","place":["Taiwan"]},{"name":"Research Center for Science and Technology for Learning, National Central University","place":["Taiwan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0359728.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.17645\/mac.v7i1.1802","article-title":"Insularized connectedness: Mobile chat applications and news production","volume":"7","author":"C Agur","year":"2019","journal-title":"MaC"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0359728.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1177\/2050157917725549","article-title":"Mobile sourcing: A case study of journalistic norms and usage of chat apps","volume":"6","author":"V Belair-Gagnon","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mobile Media & Communication"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0359728.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0289168","article-title":"Determinants of instant messenger (IM) adoption and its effect on team performance: Mediating role of knowledge creation and quality communication","volume":"18","author":"AK Tarofder","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0359728.ref004","volume-title":"Mobile and social media journalism: A practical guide for multimedia journalism","author":"A Adornato","year":"2022","edition":"2"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0359728.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.17645\/mac.v10i1.4433","article-title":"ProPublica\u2019s data journalism: How multidisciplinary teams and hybrid profiles create impactful data stories","volume":"10","author":"M-F De-Lima-Santos","year":"2022","journal-title":"MaC"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0359728.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0288773","article-title":"Social presence and dynamics of group communication: An analysis of a health professionals WhatsApp group chats","volume":"18","author":"CE Mbada","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0359728.ref007","first-page":"188","article-title":"Distributed expertise in the classroom.","volume-title":"Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations","author":"AL Brown","year":"1993"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0359728.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"680","DOI":"10.5465\/annals.2020.0330","article-title":"Understanding communities of practice: Taking stock and moving forward","volume":"16","author":"D Nicolini","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acad Manag Ann"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0359728.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1093\/ct\/qtaa013","article-title":"What on earth do journalists know? 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