Will, clearly the current generation of SNAs do serve some needs ... one doesn't have to be a researcher (or be knowledgeable about research) to build a technology that meets a need at some basic level. I would call this the Mechanic/Toolsmith/Craftsman stage of technology development. This sort of thing can be observed in every field of human endeavor. Even very primitive cultures without a codified, abstracted, body of knowledge (which is one outcome of science) are able to create artifacts that still find use in far more sophisticated forms in more advanced cultures.
In fact, I would suggest -- and this has been my observation -- that new paradigms of technology more often than not emerge from the greasy hands of tinkerers (possessing tacit knowledge) rather than scientists. The scientist's contribution is extract theories and universal principles -- after the fact -- in such a manner that the tinkerer's invention can expand in scope and complexity. I don't believe that any of the tinkerers who developed microcomputers in the 1970's (IMSAI, Altair and so on) could be accused of secretly having acquired Ph.D.s.; on the other hand, we needed the Doug Engelbarts, Alan Kays, Bob Metcalfes, Vint Cerfs and Larry Teslers to up the ante. Note that Tim Berners-Lee does not have a PhD. (Not that I would classify him 'merely' as a 'tinkerer'; on the other hand, Edison probably wouldn't have objected to the label). Stalking, imitation, and gossip perhaps are uppermost in the minds of college undergrads, and current technology -- by accident or design -- accommodates, encourages, or allows such activities. But here's the thing: almost invariably, there are some functions that are part of the design, and other 'features' that emerge through the way the tool is appropriated. Social psychology can help explain the appropriation, plus, it can help in consciously reshaping the designs of the tools to encourage certain kinds of use and discourage (in a 'Slanty' manner, as per another ongoing thread) certain other kinds of tools. Further, the explicit soc. psych exploration of current use, abuse, and lack of use can help a great deal in reviving the fortunes and expanding the scope of SNAs. Thanks for the clip on Stalking, Imitation and Gossip -- very interesting piece. Murli On Jan 31, 2008 11:13 PM, W Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Merli - > > Wouldn't you agree that from a pure social psychology perspective - at > least theoretically - pleasing or not - SNAs do allow for three key > group/social dynamic needs, Stalking, imitation, and gossip - a recent book > actually has come out talking about the huge importance of gossip in > maintaining social networks... you might find the following interesting: > > *"Stalking, imitation and gossip* > > What would a good social system be without some means of stalking, > imitation and gossip? (Speaking of which - I was recently reading something > about evolutionary psychobiology and the importance of Gossip in developing > language and semantic maps in early humans, but can't for the life of me > remember where -- need to come back to this - anyway, I will look into this > and come back with some references). Part of social life is all the things > we pretend we don't do when in polite company. Most of us, at some point or > the other stalked someone (remember when you could > "finger<http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/finger>" > people). Some report<http://laughingmeme.org/articles/2005/12/26/tag-stalking> > *learning about others' personal lives* using their *me* and > *craigslist*tags. And of course, we can > *imitate people* we watch (copy their items and tags). Recently, I have > started noticing the watercooler type post-event conversations around > photographs on Flickr (facilitated by specific event tags). > > Luckily, tagging systems do not promote popularity lists the way blogs do. > If they did, then this rich social tapestry might degenerate to popularity > contests, and otherwise sane people would start behaving as in high school > (specifically American high school. For a fascinating article on Why Nerds > Are Unpopular - the importance of Gossip, pecking order, arbitrary > hierarchies in social organizations and group flock behavior in american > high schools - read this article by Paul > Graham<http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html> > )." > > > ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
