Terrific point Jeff, and great choices of examples. Might be good to trot out McLuhan and sense ratios, when thinking about your examples below as well.
And, not to put a damper on the discussion or anything, but just to note, since the mid-1990s, CMC researchers have delved quite deeply into most of the "quality of community relationships" online, "the strength of weak ties" and a whole host of socio-cultural issues these things raised, including the issue of how to define a "real" community, if one can. I have a full review of this literature in one of the more boring sections of my dissertation ( www.nutball.com/dissertation), but a livelier account of the issues raised can be found in Stephen Doheny-Farina's book, The Wired Neighborhood (1998). http://www.amazon.com/Wired-Neighborhood-Stephen-Doheny-Farina/dp/0300074344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201888662&sr=1-1 I'm sure academic HCI researchers at least are busily applying all that previous research to social networks and FOAF, rather than inventing the wheel from scratch. Chris On Feb 1, 2008 12:13 PM, Jeff Axup <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It is fair to point out the deficiencies or differences between various > online formats and F2F meetings. However, let me point out that a social > network says nothing about the technology or methods being used to support > communication or relationships within it. Here's a few examples of 'social > networks'. > > > - A group of friends talking in a bar in 100 AD Rome talking about > people met while traveling on horseback to trade with other cities > - A military commander in medieval Europe communicating by carrier > pigeon to his troops > - A new American immigrant in 1800 receiving mail via ship from > relatives in Europe > - A government employee on the US frontier communicating with the home > office in New York via telegraph messages. > - A group of 1950s housewives chatting on the phone during the day > while they are at home working > - A modern day businessperson going to a professional group to meet > with business contacts who they wouldn't want to spend time with on a > personal basis > - An engineer working with a remote team in India via a phone > connection > - A shy teen using SMS to flirt with a girl from school who he > otherwise wouldn't feel comfortable around > - An astronaut on a space station placing a video call to talk with > their new baby for the first time. > > Who is to say which of these is a "real" social interaction? Who is to say > which of them is most useful or highest quality? They all connect people > in > networks, and different methods of connecting have different advantages > and > disadvantages. I think we are focusing a bit too much on the negative side > of a very new medium (web-based-social-networking-services) without > placing > them in the context of many other forms of socialization which we use for > different purposes and get variable results with. > > Cheers, > Jeff > > On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:10:35, Jeff Seager <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Jeff Axup said (with what I perceived as a touch of irony, and I think > > not too seriously): "I really like this quote - 'people are, just, > > well, bored of social networks.' As if humanity will ever be bored > > of social networks, considering that we have been happily using them > > for thousands of years." > > > > Not like this. To compare this technological simulation to a true > > social network is to say you've been skydiving because you watched a > > video that was taped from the point of view of the guy who actually > > did it. It has some value if viewed with sufficient empathy (we > > supply that ourselves), but lacks the validation needed for a genuine > > experience of society. > > > > What do Facebook, MySpace, et al *not* have that traditional social > > networking has? Things like body language, eye contact, genuine > > social context, validation that you are in fact talking to another > > 16-year-old like yourself ... In short, they lack the element of > > trust -- in part because participants have whatever degree of > > anonymity they choose to have. > > > > Whatever other metrics are applied to assess the decline of online > > social networks, I think this lack of trust will be the bottom line. > > We'll have heard one too many stories about people who pretended to > > be something they aren't, and others getting hurt in some way > > because of it. > > > > I do think that online social networks can be a valuable way to > > reinforce existing social interactions, but it seems unlikely to me > > that they could ever stand alone. Nor should they. I can't imagine > > calling any group a society when all their interactions are > > superficial and transient. Anything that evaporates in a power outage > > is not a society. > > > > Thank you, Murli and everyone, for some very thought-provoking ideas. > > I'm enjoying your comments very much, in spite of my uncertainty > > about your existence in real time and space. > > > > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > > Posted from the new ixda.org > > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=25387 > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > > *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 > > > > > > -- > Thanks, > Jeff > > ________________________________________________________________________________ > Jeff Axup, Ph.D. > Principal Consultant, Mobile Community Design Consulting, San Diego > > Research: Mobile Group Research Methods, Social Networks, Group > Usability > E-mail: axup <at> userdesign.com > Blog: http://mobilecommunitydesign.com > Moblog: http://memeaddict.blogspot.com > > "Designers mine the raw bits of tomorrow. They shape them for the present > day." - Bruce Sterling > > ________________________________________________________________________________ > ________________________________________________________________ > *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 > ________________________________________________________________ *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
