An Evolutionto

Social Computing

Hafsa MaqboolTaahirah S. Arain

BS-VIII

Overview

1. Defining social and social behavior

2. Understanding social computing

3. Purpose of this presentation

4. Analyzing certain behaviors• Groups and Gatherings, Making a Mark, Literary Works,

Communication, Social Media, Exploration

5. Next Step in Evolution

What does it mean to be Social?

Synonyms: amusing, civil, collective, communicative, community, companionable, cordial, entertaining, gracious, hospitable, informative,

mannerly, nice, pleasant, polite, popular, sociable, societal

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/social

A Formal Definition

1. Of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society

2. Tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others of one's kind

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social

Social HierarchyPhysical

MovementMeaning

Directed towards others

Await response

Unique interaction

Interactions

Accidental, unplanned,

repeated interaction

Regular

Interactions

described by law,

custom, or tradition

A scheme of social

interactions

Behavior Action Social Behavior Social Action Social Contact Social Interaction Repeated Interaction Regular interaction Regulated Interaction Social Relation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forms_of_activity_and_interpersonal_relations

So, What is Social Computing?

• It is the intersection of social behavior and computer systems to create systems that gather, represent, process, use and distribute information that is spread across social collectivities such as groups, teams, communities, organizations and markets.

• There is no anonymity. It is significantly precise because it is linked to people, who are in turn linked to other people.

• In the weaker sense, it is creating tools that encourage social interaction.

• In a stronger sense, it is using social patterns and interactions to develop new technologies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_computing

This presentation

• Through out this semester we will be discussing the technical aspect of social computing. Here we would like to look at it in terms of social behavior. Asking questions such as: – How did we reach this point?– Has anything really changed?– Are we behaving differently?

• The reason is that if we are to develop tools that use and encourage social behavior we first need to understand how WE behave.

• We will discuss some typical human interactions and how they have changed over time:– Groups and Gatherings, Photos, Paintings, Literature, Communication,

Exploration

Groups and Gatherings• Man has always had the desire to gather in groups or clusters – whether to celebrate a

victorious hunt, or to tell stories around campfires or bar-b-queues. Even today, we like to discuss past events or events that are going to happen

• We’ve always wanted to be part of a group where we feel we belong – whether its sporting events like the Olympics in Ancient Greece or baseball games today or even theatre in the 16th, 17th, 18th centuries

• Once part of a group that suits us best, we follow The Herd Mentality – we behave as the others in the group behave

• Social Computing today has dissolved boundaries – people can find a group/community to socialize in right from the comfort of their own homes. While being solitude, people can still mix, mingle and share ideas with people like themselves. Age, race, physical location are no longer limiting factors to being accepted in an interest group

• The IT Crowd – Friendface • The IT Crowd - Friendface #2

Making a Mark – Photos• We have always been obsessed with photos, pictures and paintings – we ‘photo-

blogged’ even as cavemen.

• Perhaps this stems from our desire to be recognized and remembered for generations to come. For example the paintings in the “Looney Tunes Back in Action” clip – the artists of the paintings would never have thought their work would be duplicated in movies and cartoons centuries later. Or perhaps they had…

• For centuries we have created self portraits – perhaps to leave a part of us behind as proof of our existence. Regardless of culture, important people have always had portraits made.

• But not everyone can be as artistic as Van Gogh or Andy Warhol, or as important as the king of England. So do our display pictures on our profile pages serve a similar purpose? Hours of effort are spent taking pictures, selecting and photo editing – is this the same as having your portrait painted to perfection for the world to see?

Literary Works – Being Heard, Being Remembered, Telling Our

Stories• From the ancient Hieroglyphics to Latin to Modern Languages today, we

have always had the desire to write. Be it stories of others, of ourselves and our experiences or even things we imagine – we’ve always written.

• Perhaps it is the desire to leave behind a tangible legacy. Perhaps we want others to share our thoughts and experiences - why today we update our statuses on Facebook and we Tweet

• Shakespeare wrote in 1600s; Charles Dickens wrote in 1800s; J.K Rowling wrote in the 21st century. And now anyone can become a great writer. No longer do we write in seclusion – we want to be SEEN writing

• Blackadder meets Shakespeare • Family Guy: Watch me type in public

Lit Works contd.• And so, today we blog – no need to chase publishers and editors; no costs

incurred in printing; no fears of sales or attracting audiences. Blogs let us write and audiences from around the world come to us – attract niches

• Everyone can be a critic – so you can accept comments you like; discard negative criticism; credibility and reputation is yours to handle . You can continuously improve yourself as a writer

• Literature takes on a new art form: From classic literature to Tweetiture. Now everyone can say they have read the greatest novels of all time. In this fast-paced world where time is a limited resource, 140 characters is all it takes to tell a story – and its all the time people have to read a story. So, writers of great Tweetiture take pride in their ability to condense 500 page novels to 140 character synopses

• Julie & Julia - Official Trailer• Tweetiture

Communication• Man has always had the desire to communicate whether by talking or writing.

Writing is about communicating ideas – and leaving those ideas behind for others to explore

• Communication in this sense is about getting information across – whether through letters carried by pigeons, Morse code, telegraphs, email or even instant messaging

• The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate with and around the world. Newspapers, magazines and radios were all about mass broadcasting. This old world media is being replaced by social media. We can say whatever we want and choose what information we would like to receive

• Communication - Part 1: A Brief History• Communication - Part 2: Standing on the shoulders of giants• Communication - Part 3: Series of Tubes• Social Media in Plain English• Social Media Revolution

Curiosity – Exploring Worlds

• The desire to know more about our world is something that has become more widespread. In the past travelling far could only be done those who were extremely adventurous and brave– Marco Polo, Ibn Buttuta, Columbus, Mohd. Bin Qassim, Cortes, Vasco

Da Gama, Cook, Megellan, Amelia Earhart, Sir Edmund Hillary, Neil Armstrong

• Many of us want to explore the world but do not have the resources to do so. Tools like Google Earth has brought the world and beyond to our homes.

• Madrid 2000 • Ancient Rome • Mars

What’s the Next Step in This Evolution?

• Many things haven’t changed in terms of our behavior towards others.

• However technology has drastically changed our environment: – Never enough time or money– Internet has taken over everything– No definite authority online, anyone can be an authority on any

subject. – What is true?

• geriatric1927 • Student hoaxes world's media on Wikipedia• Mythbusters – Lego Ball• Prometeus New World

Referenceshttp://wikipedia.comhttp://www.youtube.comhttp://images.google.com.pk/http://www.facebook.comhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/5309001/Twitter-Great-works-of-literature-shortened-into-tweets.htmlhttp://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2008/1105/the-novel-by-tweethttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30699302/http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/10/tracing_the_evo.htmlhttp://social-media-optimization.com/2009/06/when-did-social-media-become-just-twitter-and-facebook/http://www.slideshare.net/stewartb2b/social-media-revolution-2010-synergy-session-1http://www.ted.com/talks/james_surowiecki_on_the_turning_point_for_social_media.htmlhttp://socialcomputingjournal.com/http://www.slideshare.net/Stutts/10-trends-to-watch-in-2010http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/no-lie-your-facebook-profile-is-the-real-you/http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/07/06/COMMENT-social-media-secrecy-transparency.aspxhttp://ourfounder.typepad.com/leblog/http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-507790/Edmund-Hillary-A-special-hero-inspired-noble-courage.htmlhttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_different_types_of_media