Social Software

1. SocialSoftware

2. What is “Social Software” Software that enables people to rendezvous, connect, or collaborate through computer-mediated communication1. 1. “Social software.” Wikipedia. 26-Apr-2007. 26-Apr-2007. ,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Social_software

3. What is Social Software? • Actually not a well-defined term • Means different things to different people • Example: Include older media, such as email and mailing lists? • Most users restrict “social software” to more recent types, such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc.

4. What is Social Software? • Generally speaking, most people would agree on the following about Social Software: • It facilitates back-and-forth discourse – not a one-way distribution of ideas1 • It facilitates the formation of “bottom-up” online communities 1. Matt Vilano. “Social Revolution.” Campus Technology. January, 2007. pp 40 - 45

5. Bottom-Up Communities1 • Membership is voluntary • Members establish online reputations within the community • Mission and governance of the community is defined and controlled by the members themselves 1. Social software.” Wikipedia. 26-Apr-2007. 26-Apr-2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Social_software>

6. Top-Down Communities • Bottom-up communities contrast with those that are top-down • Controlled by an external authority • Users’ access usually is limited • Users may not have joined voluntarily • Frequently work-related

7. Social Software Examples • Several types • Instant Messaging • Text Chat • Blogs & Microblogs • Wikis • Social Networking • Social Bookmarking • The first two are important, but also very familiar • I will focus on the last ones

8. Blogs • From Blogger.com1, a Google blog site • A blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. • New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. • Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not. • Most blogs are simple – mainly online diaries • http://www.livejournal.com/ (Explore LJ) 1. “What’s a blog?”. 30-Apr-2007. <http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g>

9. Blogs • The significant ones are deeper and more complex • Commentary on important topics • http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/ • Include comments and blogrolls (links to other blogs with shared interests) that can foster online communities • http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/ • Have the potential to become one of the more important aspects of the Web

10. Blogs • Why are blogs so important? • They are easy to use and invite participation • They can be highly networked and can take full advantage of the Web • They are decentralized and offer the opportunity for free expression

11. Blogs: Easy to Use • Anyone can publish a blog • Not difficult to learn • Cheap • As a consequence, the “blogosphere” is growing astronomically

12. Blogosphere: Rapid Growth • It is clear blogs have caught on -- their number is growing exponentially1 • The most rapidly adopted technology in history2 • One caveat: how many of these blogs are active? • http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000493.html • http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2005/05/chapter_2_why_b.html

13. Blogs: A New Medium1 • Blogs have become influential in global politics • On the surface, this is not easy to understand • Most blogs are personal and usually trivial • Only a small number of Americans read blogs • 4% in 2004 • Bloggers are part-time volunteers, for the most part doing it for fun rather than money • Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell. “Web of Influence.” Nov/Dec 2004. <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2707&print=1>

14. Blogs: A New Medium • Blogs have certain advantages over the traditional media • Much faster to publish • Allows them to focus quickly on breaking news • Networked to each • Information can spread rapidly • Not under the control of editors, publishers, etc. • Can focus on new or under-reported issues • Not always good, of course. You need to take unedited text with a grain of salt • Repositories of expertise • Mainstream media staff generally are not experts with specialized, detailed knowledge – some bloggers are

15. Blogs: A New Medium • Main influence – affecting the content of mainstream media coverage • Mainstream media leaders pay attention to political blogs • Political bloggers “keep watch on” mainstream media publications • Fact-checking and error correction • Pressure to cover a topic that mainstream media is ignoring • The level of blogging is one barometer of public interest in an issue

16. Microblogs: Twitter • Allows users to send status updates, or "tweets" from • Cell phones • IM services • Facebook • Limit -- less than 140 characters • Can be fairly trivial – “I am eating a burger and fries for dinner.”

17. Microblogs: Twitter • Has been seized on by politicians and news media, and others • http://twitter.com/BarackObama • http://twitter.com/cnn • University of Texas at San Antonio • http://twitter.com/engineeringutsa

18. Wikis • Websites that allow a large number of users to add and edit content in a collaborative manner1. • The CS 101C wiki we used in Project 2 is an example • Different than blogs, in that wikis mainly facilitate document-based collaboration. 1. “A Short Guide to Wikis.” A Project Locker Whitepaper. April, 2006. <http://www.zybic.com/wiki_whitepaper.pdf>

19. Wikis • Most obvious successful wiki is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia • Otherwise, wikis are not nearly as widespread as blogs • Many applications lie in the corporate sector • Internal documentation • Collaborative teams • Frequently bottom-up

20. Social Network Sites • Web-based services that allow individuals to:1 • Construct a public or semi-public profile • Choose and make visible a list of other users with whom they share a connection • View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system 1http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

21. Social Networking Sites • Extremely important today • Examples: • Facebook and MySpace • YouTube • Flickr • How many people use them? • A lot --MySpace had over 114,000,000 visitors in June 2007

22. Social Networks – Privacy Issues • A lot of personal information in MySpace and Facebook • Fluency (p 482): “There are only two basic threats [to privacy]: government and business.” • Everything in social network web sites is potentially available to governmental (e.g., law enforcement) and business organizations

23. Social Bookmarking1 • Similar to Favorites folders in your personal computer • This has disadvantages • Located only on a local machine and not available anywhere else • Gets hard to handle if you have a lot of favorites • Difficult to share with others 1. “Social Bookmarking.” <http://www.educause.edu/eli>

24. Social Bookmarking • Social bookmarks are stored on a separate web site • Example: del.icio.us • http://del.icio.us/ • Social bookmarks are available anywhere there is an Internet connection • Especially useful if the bookmarks need to be shared

25. Social Bookmarking • Has the added advantage that you can tag bookmarks with key words

26. Social Bookmarking • You can see the bookmarks of others who also used your bookmark • Possibly an indication of other interesting pages • Allows you to make social connections with other individuals with similar interests • You can explore how others have used tags you have used

27. Social Bookmarking • Produces a linked network of web pages created by similar tags and bookmarks • This user-based taxonomy has been called a “folksonomy.” • Example: del.icio.us • Use my account as example

28. Folksonomy • A classification scheme made by a crowd of interested individuals rather than by experts1 • Advantages • Insights of others in a community of like-minded individuals • Scheme may include links an expert might not think of • Disadvantages • Constructed by amateurs – may be uneven • Reflects value of the community – may be skewed 1. “What is a Folksonomy.” <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-folksonomy.htm>

29. Web 2.01,2 • Everything we have talked about so far has been summed up as “Web 2.0” • Business-oriented look at recent social networking developments. • Not accepted by everyone. • Real phenomenon or marketing buzzword? • Tim O’Reilly. “What is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software.” 30-Sept-2005. 27-Apr-2007 http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/6228 • “Web 2.0.” wikipedia. 27-Apr-2007. 26-Apr-2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0”

30. Web 2.0 • Characteristics • Uses Web as a an operating system • Dependent on user contributions • Users add value – the more the merrier • Users control the data • Profits from the collective intelligence of users • Integrates content from different sources • Easy to use

31. Web 2.0: Web as an OS • Use the Web as the operating system • Use application entirely through a browser • Example: Google • Not a traditional software package • Instead, delivered entirely as a web service • Wouldn’t exist without the Web • Mainly functions as an enabler, which helps users find the web content they need

32. Web 2.0: Users Add Value • Web 2.0 applications grow in effectiveness the more people use them • Examples: eBay and del.icio.us • Their power stems from the human connections they establish • Effectiveness depends on participation

33. Web 2.0: Users Add Value • User-generated data adds value • Examples: • Wikipedia • Amazon • User reviews • Flickr • Entirely dependent on user-submitted photos

34. Web 2.0: Users Own Data • Users exercise control over data on web site • Examples: • Wikipedia • Flickr

35. Web 2.0: Collective Intelligence • Web 2.0 harnesses the collective intelligence of users with no centralized authority • Examples: • Wikipedia • Google • PageRank • Blogging • Collective attention of blogosphere identifies elite blogs to which mainstream media pays attention • Social Bookmarking • Folksonomies that are developed

36. Web 2.0: Integration of Content • Mashup: integration of multi-sourced content into a single application1 • Example: Google Maps • Begins with satellite imagery services licensed by Google • Coupled with rich browser-based application to view data • Housingmaps.com combines Google Maps with a web-based database of homes for sale or rent 1. “Gartner’s 2006 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle.” <http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=495475&format=print>

37. Web 2.0: User-Friendly Interface • Example: Ajax • Collection of techniques to deliver a rich, user-friendly interface using modern browsers • Can turn difficult-to-use web applications into ones that are much easier to use • Google Maps is a good example