Social Awareness : Anthony Massingham [ 40960212 ]

Social Awareness
Anthony Massingham
40960212

Introduction
Social interaction has been a key factor to human development all throughout history. With the advent of Internet based communications, the idea of networking and awareness moved from the physical realm into the digital. “UseNet” ( “a world-wide distributed discussion system” ( What is Usenet ) ) can be described as the first online social network as it allowed users to converse and interact remotely over long distances. From there the many forms of computer based social interaction increased. From IRC ( Internet relay chat ), to instant messaging systems like ICQ or MSN, and finally on to the latest iteration of digital social interaction : The Social Network. Unofficially Starting with classmates.com in 1995, the internet social network revolution has boomed over the last few years. Juggernauts like Myspace and Facebook dominate the industry, while competitors build up steady followings in the sidelines. But what is it that attracts users to these networks ?

As the world around us speeds up, we find ourselves with less and less time to keep track of our friends, family, and the important ( or not so important ) aspects of their lives. One of the aims of Social Networking is to allow users to be aware of what other people are doing, and to bring a feeling of connection to a system that ultimately is sterile and artificial.

This article will aim to explore the sense of awareness and feeling of connection that Social Networking has brought to the Internet community. Examples will be drawn from a selection of Social Networking Tools or Systems that attempt in some way to complete this “feeling of connection”.

Services
The Services to be discussed in this article are as follows :

Facebook

Facebook is “...the second largest social network on the web, behind only MySpace in terms of traffic. Primarily focused on high school to college students ” ( Facebook, Complete Biography ). Facebook is a networking site primarily for students, it has a custom developer API which allows for customised applications, and supports the creation of groups, events, and communication between other users. The Facebook website says : “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. “ ( Facebook.com )

Last.fm

Last.fm is a music related website which monitors a user's listening habits and displays statistics, offers recommended listening, and compares musical tastes with fellow users. Last.fm uses an external piece of software ( scrobbler ) to monitor listening habits. Last.fm describes itself as : “a service that keeps track of what music you listen to, and then produces a large number of features personalised to you. You can use Last.fm to listen to music, find out about artists you may like, other people with similar music taste, gigs in your local area, charts and quilts for your personal site, as well as much more.” ( Last.fm FAQ).

Twitter

Twitter is an (not so) instant messaging system which broadcasts messages out to a select group of people. Twitter utilises SMS, Instant Messaging Services ( like GoogleChat ), and email. Twitter describes itself as “...a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives.” ( Twitter Help Page ).

Pownce

Pownce is a newcomer to the Social Networking Scene, it is essentially similar to Twitter, but sends files, events, pictures and links as well as messages. Pownce also has an external client running on Adobe AIR Software. Pownce describes itself as “...a way to send messages, files, links, and events to your friends.” ( Pownce Website ).

RSS as a Social Device

Finally, this article will use RSS and RSS readers ( such as RSSOwl, and Google Reade ) as ways of keeping in contact and maintaining user awareness. RSS ( Really Simply Syndication ), is a simple feed of data from a particular website. Blogs and News sites organise data into RSS feeds so that readers can automate content acquisition and view it from within a feed reader. Multiple Feeds can be viewed from within the one reader.

Awareness
All of the services or tools listed above are used by thousands of people in some form every day. So what is it that makes these communities so successful? Although there are many contributing factors, I myself believe that being aware of the other users and what they are involved in is what keeps the community connected. “Being aware” can be defined as “having knowledge” ( Dictionary.com), however this definition is lacking detail. Dourish and Bly, Best describe awareness as “knowing who is around, what is happening, and who is talking with whom”. One of the key aspects of social networks is this understanding of awareness and feeling of connection. There have been many social applications created recently that focus specifically on being aware of what other users are currently viewing. me.dium for example is a program that displays users who are currently viewing the same websites as you are, and allows users to chat about the particular site together. Immediately this brings a new depth to the feeling of connection one finds when browsing the Internet. Being aware of what other users are doing immediately takes a simple web-based application to a new level.

Social Awareness and Interaction
All of the network tools mentioned earlier allow some way for people to be aware of the status of fellow users at any one time. In fact, some of the tools are based entirely around the concept of awareness. To begin with however, a look at the music website Last.fm.

As mentioned earlier, Last.fm is a music orientated network. The music software analyses what a user is listening to and then displays that information on the Last.fm website. However leaving the website just as described would ensurea dull and uninteresting experience for the users. Instead Last.fm offer the users a chance to compare taste with other participants, as well as get updates as to what their friends have listened to recently.

Last.fm friend status

By adding in this extra functionality, Last.fm moves from being a collection of people's favourite tracks, to a collection of users being aware, and discussing each other's musical tastes. Upon loading Last.fm every user is presented with a screen displaying the latest movements of their “friends”, immediately making them aware of a variety of information ( music choice, time it was played, etc ). This sense of awareness immediately brings the users closer together as a group and helps to ensure users don't feel like they are on opposite sides of the world, but that they feel connected to one another.

Last.fm Taste-o-meter

While using Last.fm during the first few weeks of the semester, I was instantly surprised by the musical tastes of some of my peers, and pleasantly surprised to find some common similarities. Immediately I knew the next time I saw that particular friend I could talk to them about a band we had never spoken about previously. This new connection was entirely due to the fact I was aware of what they had been listening to.

Twitter has a different approach to making users aware of each other: it is entirely based around being aware entirely, even to the point where, Twitter's catch phrase is “What are you doing?”. Even as I write this essay I am getting updates on where my fellow students are up to in their article progress. ( “1200 words.. time for a break” was the last message received on my mobile phone ). Twitter seems like a silly idea when you first hear about it; Why waste time sending messages over the internet/IM/phone when you can just tell people what you're doing when they ask you? However after a period of using it, one can see the advantages. It offers quick and easy access to a variety of distribution methods, as well as being able to receive messages no matter your whereabouts. On top of this, one certainly does feel connected, almost voyeuristic, hearing updates about peoples private lives at all hours of the day or night.

GoogleTalk Twitter Messages

Pownce uses a similar system to Twitter. Users sign up as “friends” and then can exchange messages with one another. However Pownce goes one step further and adds the option of sending Messages, Links, Files ( up to 10mb for the average user ) and organising Events. In my opinion, even though Pownce does not have SMS or IM capabilities it is far superior in making myself aware of what the internet-based network is doing around me. However Twitter takes the idea of awareness away from the computer and makes it portable ( with sms updates and messaging ) and therefore has an element which Pownce has yet to capture.

Pownce AIR Interface

Facebook is one of the largest social networking websites available on the web to date, it is also one of the best examples of user connection through awareness in the social network community. Upon logging in, users are immediately greeted with a “news feed”. This Feed displays all the recent updates that a users' friends have made within the last few days.

This “feed” of information can also be customised so that particular types of information are updated less, while other types are updated more often. This selective awareness is highly beneficial to people who only wish to know certain things, about certain people.

Facebook also supports the use of Events and Groups. Events ensure that users are aware which of their friends are attending a particular event. While groups are ways of connecting with people of similar interests or passions. On top of all of this, the Facebook system is supported by “networks” ( locales if you will ) which chop up the users of the world into geographical groups. Once in one of these “networks” you have access to basic information of anyone else within that network. If you want to feel connected, that is one of the best ways to do it.

Finally I would like to touch on RSS feeds as a social tool. Although not technically a social network, they can be used in such a way to give a website or network a social “feel” and help readers to become aware of the author and his/her habits. A large number of websites ( including all of the ones listed in this article, and this article itself ) use RSS feeds to provide data for users. Using an RSS feed reader ( like RSSOwl as depicted in the images ), a user can view all of this information from all of these social sites, and be notified as soon as new information arrives. On top of this, a user can be aware of new posts on Blogs, News-based websites and Forums. Although it doesn't allow for communication back to the original source, RSS does provide an excellent feeling of connection for the reader as well as a feeling of convenience.

Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important when dealing with a isolated tool like the Internet to remain aware of what yourself, and others around you are doing. Awareness and connection with others is what turns a simple web portal into something more meaningful. All of the tools listed throughout the article use awareness to promote a feeling community and connection between users. Each of the various social network systems approach the concept of awareness in a different fashion. Facebook looks at community awareness, Last.fm looks at comparative awareness, Twitter and Pownce look at complete awareness, and RSS feeds are a good example of external awareness. Each tackles the problem in a different manner, but each succeed in their own right. This sense of awareness and feeling of communication remove the normally stark artificial nature of the internet and adds a more human element to the networks. It is this human network that keeps people coming back to various sites, where it is less like an online hub, and more like a place for friends and family to meet, greet, and be take part in eachother's lives.