Between scale and impact: member prototype ambiguity in digital transformation

Digital transformation can produce scaling in numbers – growing organisational boundaries by adding new users, customers, or members. For membership-based organisations, such as social movement organisations (SMOs), digital scaling brings an inflow of new resources and members at a pace that previously was unimaginable, as well as mounting power and influence. But sustained rapid growth in new membership also can introduce a tension related to digital scaling and political or social impact. In this research, we trace this tension to member prototype ambiguity – that is, to a perceived variation in the attributes, assumptions, and actions of the new members entering the organisation. Such ambiguity can have a destabilising effect on collective identity that might significantly weaken the political or social impact of the SMO. In this longitudinal study of Amnesty International, we examine how digital transformation and scaling unveiled this tension and how the professional core at two of Amnesty’s national sections, Australia and Sweden, addressed the prototype ambiguity that ensued. This research contributes to the existing literature on digital transformation, prototype ambiguity, and social movements, by providing insight into the challenges and opportunities presented by digital scaling in membership-based organisations such as SMOs.