Part II: Research and Analysis
Social Software works in Triangles
By: Ton Zijlstra
Ton takes Flickr as an example to relate his thoughts on Social Networking and as an object around which he looks for existing relationships, and scouts out possible new ones.
In general he say thats Flickr works in a triangle: person, picture/bookmark, and tag(s). Or more abstract a person, an object of sociality, and some descriptor. In every triangle there always needs to be a person and an object of sociality. The third point of the triangle is free to define as it were.
These elements enhance the process of triangulation for example, build connections to people based on their current interest, albeit a picture, a location, an event, a bookmark, a blogpost or a document.
Ton expresses that social networks that do not offer you the possibility to explore all sides of a triangle, aren’t useful as a social medium. For example, a bookmarking service that does say how many others bookmarked the same thing, but does not let you explore who these people are or lets you see who uses what tags, only the tags used by themselves, doesn’t do much in a social sense.
Social software/networks, Ton thinks is social because it puts relationships in the center view, and less the information that flows through these relationships. The possibility of triangulation allows you to also extend and broaden both existing and new relationships into new information domains, and thus increases the likelihood of new networks of relationships and meaning emerging from the background noise.
Source: http://www.zylstra.org/blog/archives/2006/07/social_software.html
Thoughts on Facebook
By: Tracy Mitrano
Director of IT Policy and Computer Policy & Law Program, Cornell University
April, 2006
Tracy expresses that Facebook, along with much of the Internet, is a great innovation that allows users to express their humanity and an opportunity to create new communities. She thinks it represents a forum in which one can make choices about their identity, at least in so far as one chooses to represent themselves publicly. And that freedom does not suggest that one can do so with ‘impunity’, however, Because we live in a society in which expression is judged in legal, policy and even personal ways, it is important to remember the consequences of that expression no matter how fun in the moment it might seem to be.
She takes it to a more personal level and advises to social network users to Think not only about what identity they create for themselves online, but also how they represent others. At the very least, she encourages them to be sure that they take their feelings into account. she says, “You would not want to find yourself as a defendant in a tort case that alleged you invaded their privacy.”
Tracy talks about the freedom to post, what one wants comes with the responsibility to do so in his/her interests not only for today, but also for who and what the person wants to be tomorrow. And also think of your personal safety. Cyberspace can have the effect of creating an illusion of intimacy that could prove dangerous for users in reality. She says, “Use the manners and mores of behavior in physical space both in how you present yourself and how you interpret other people on-line as a guide.”
Most importantly, she stresses on respect between users and encourages people never to say things they wouldn’t want to hear about themselves.
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html
A privacy paradox: Social Networking in the United States
By: Susan B. Barnes
I found this article really interesting because, it talks about the privacy issue once again, with social networks. Even though it is very similar to the article above and the one we read for homework, it has some novel ideas and opinions.
Susan says, Teenagers will freely give up personal information to join social networks on the Internet. Afterwards, they are surprised when their parents read their journals. Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus. The posting of personal information by teens and students has consequences.
For example, The personal information revealed by teenagers on these sites also attracts sexual predators. There have been a number of reports of sexual predators locating victims through social networking sites.
The popularity of social networking sites on the Internet introduces the use of mediated–communication into the relationship development process. Teenagers now use organized social Web sites to meet others and explore identity formation. These sites can be viewed within a larger trend that shifts the influence of interpersonal correspondence to mediated messages.
Social networking tools, have almost become indispensable for teenagers, who often think theirs lives are private as long as their parents are not reading their journals.
Source: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/
