Introduction
I have been using different social applications for a good year and the only ones to survive have been the ones that exist as a natural extension of my day to day activities - applications that don't, or inhibit my work flow get binned and usually never again see the light of day. This article explores three social applications abilities to become an extension of my natural day to day activities and the social awareness generated from that.
Focus
The focus of this reflective report will be on one aspect of the social awareness augmentation of software, that being that the application in question becomes an extension of how you would usually use your everyday applications and the social awareness generated from that. The applications that will be examined within the report are Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter - I choose these three from the list of seven that we signed up for at the start of semester because they are the ones that I was using before class and still get the most enjoyment from.
Facebook Background
Facebook is for me, MySpace generation 1000 - it achieves the same goals but with much less time and stress. Facebook is "a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet" (About Facebook). I originally started using Facebook as a MySpace (ugh!) alternative because I was sick of error messages, bloated code and crappy design - turns out we have to use it for assessment as well, double bonus.
Last.fm Background
Last.fm describes itself as "the social music revolution" (Last.fm) - it is a music 'taste' sharing application that sits in the background (of your desktop) and listens to you listening to music. It then relays that information to your last.fm profile page for others to view. I have been a registered member since the 31st of May, 2007 and have been using it almost on a daily basis.
Twitter Background
I find the concept of Twitter rather odd but unresistable - it's a place where you are able to tell everyone (who is 'following you') what you are up to at that moment. In the beginning I couldn't believe that people would actually care so much about what other people were doing during the day / night. But after using it for awhile it started to grow on me - while at the same time it still doesn't sit right knowing what people are up to every minute of the day.
Reflecting on Facebook
I made the switch from MySpace to Facebook earlier this year and the only reason I still log in to my MySpace is because someone wants to be my friend (and I don't even know them!) - oh well, one is better than none right...? (hehehe). Keeping in touch with my friends is something that I strive to do on a daily basis, therefore I consider keeping in touch with people as a day to day activity - and for myself Facebook has been the most effective at extending that experience and making it enjoyable.
In Facebook I am able to go online and search for friends / groups / networks and keep up-to-date on what is happening with each of them. There is a huge level of social awareness on Facebook as you are able to see, interact and influence any of your friends and they have that same power over you - and you don't feel as if you are fighting the system just to stay in touch with everyone. For example if I were to upload photos to my account, automatically everyone of my friends would be sent the link and they are able to view them. No longer do I have to post a 'bulletin' or email my friends to let them know that I have made some changes. I feel that Facebook is the greatest natural extension in terms of communicating volumes of different information to a whole bunch of friends and family.
Reflecting on Last.fm
I wish I had been using last.fm since it started. It is my one social application that gets used on a day to day basis (My Last.fm Home) - and I absolutely love it. Last.fm (for me) is what I look for in an application when I'm wanting to extend myself into the online social world. I am a big music fan and iTunes is constantly open playing songs - and this is where Last.fm extends my listening experience - it sits on your desktop in the background scrobbling whatever I listen to and updates my profile page without me having to press anything. Because Last.fm integrates so well with my usual day to day activities, I feel that Last.fm encourages me to visit my profile site to see what else is going on. Once online you are able to see what your friends and neighbours are listening to, you are able to leave comments and join groups. I feel that all this awareness of what's going on around you - your friends music profiles, recommended songs / artists etc - steams heavily from the fact that it is so easily integrated with your natural day to day activities.
Reflecting on Twitter
I have had a Twitter account (My Twitter Home) for about 3 months now (I signed up just before classes started) and have been using it on and off and I feel that this is because Twitter really isn't an extension of my daily activities. I have always used Twitter is an application that I have to fire up (either using my dashboard widget or desktop application) to edit my status, so although it could be considered in my daily routine, it's often something that I forget to do. I am aware that you are able send sms messages to a Twitter number and that will update your status for you, but I have never really looked into it (to see if it costs money - and I'm not a scrooge either haha) because I spend far more time on my computer than I do with my mobile phone. That being said Brendan (Lidster) informed me tonight that you are able to update your status through your IM account, simply by adding the Twitter address to your contact list and then every time you write to that contact it will update your status. So for me that could possibly change the way that I interact with Twitter completely - I'm constantly on msn, so interacting with Twitter through my client would suit my day to day activities. But this reflection is on how I have been using it and my experience so far... With that in mind Twitter is an application that currently isn't an extension of my day to day activities and as such I don't gain much social awareness from it - by no means does that mean that it doesn't exist (it's undistributable that Twitter is based solely on social interaction), I'm just commenting that from my interactions with it (because it's not an extension of my activities and therefore it's basically unused) I don't go and check what other people are up to at different parts of the day so I don't gain that level of social awareness that Twitter strives for.
Conclusion
In conclusion I found that both Facebook and Last.fm were just a natural extension of my daily activities and also generated an awareness of society around me, but Twitter (as I currently use it) actually hinders my work flow and therefore I don't get to enjoy the awareness that is generated from it. I feel that I will continue to use Facbook and Last.fm in the same way as I have over the last couple of months and I will continue to feel that awareness that is generated by others also using them. As for Twitter, I intended to change how I interact with it in the hope that it can become more of a natural extension and hopefully I will reap the benefits of the others using it also.
9 comments:
Hey Tim, I liked the way you focused on the programs as whether the programs become an extension of natural day to day activities. And its true if the programs annoy me or are to complicated like MySpace I tend to ignore them. You also went into detail about your use and preferences on the websies/tools. CYA
Interesting focus Tim. I tended to find the same thing in my experience with these applications, as my entry reflects. The applications that gained most of my interest were the ones that could be integrated into my evey day activities.
- Brendan.
Hey tim, in regards to the computing tools you discussed, you stated that they are "easily integrated with your natural day to day activities." In saying this, perhaps you could have considered privacy issues. Seeing as you practically use these applications on a daily basis, have you ever thought about how many people are consuming information soley about you and your social patterns? I could easily get to know you, or anybody else, without actually communicating face to face. Ever. That's a bit scary.
I agree with you Tim. Social Applications that get in the way of 'natural day-to-day activities' are hard to continue to use. Twitter is a prime example of this. Uploading your status when you are doing something can get a bit irritating. But as you touched on, programs such as the MAC widget-Twidget- are aimed to take the hassle out of this process.
Good work.
Ellena,
That's something I have never really cared about, but really should! I just finished commenting Swanny's post which basically tells me that most of the last 3 years (if not more) is out there on the net for people to see... And I totally agree with you, that's a really scary weird thought.
Evening Tim,
Love the Day-to-Day approach you've taken with your report. I would have liked to see what a social network would require in order for it to become part of your routine, but on the whole the article was pretty good.
I agree about Twitter too - I do find it a bit pointless most of the time, it's just another thing to do. But I can see certain situations where it might be amazingly handy ( Maybe The Pear Man should use it ? ), But for normal every-day use. Not so hot.
- Anthony.
I agree that the more something naturally fits into your routine the more likely you are to use it. Depending how up to date you keep your IM account status will really dictate how successful you twitter will now be and I hope you get that ‘natural extension’ you’re looking for. I think you did a good job on your reflections and was a enjoyable to read.
Tyson 40969662
Hi Tim,
I like your discussions on how the software effects you as the user and what it does for as a young person in today’s society. I do agree with your thoughts on twitter, although it is meant to become an extension of your daily life there is just something about it that makes it to much of an effort to want to continue updating it all of the time. Perhaps we still prefer to have people ask us where we are, rather then telling them needlessly. I guess it shows that we are loved if people are asking us rather then telling them :P
Good and easy read. Good humour, although the writing style could be a little bit more formal (the reader may not be familiar with the course context). A proof-read / manual grammer would have helped. Quite good reflection, although sources and images would help. I think while it is a really good and easy to read, it is a little too informal. The focus and reflection are quite good, although you could have gained more from looking at it from a higher level (isn't awareness about how others use the software too?).
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