The Internet is evolving; a reflection

The Internet provides one with the ability to approach an age-old problem with a fresh and exciting angle, this being the problem of interacting and communicating with others. Whilst this can provide new and exciting methods in which to achieve communication, these ideas come with their own sets of issues in a variety of areas. This posting will delve into these issues, along with an observation of the more positive outcomes that are provided through this adaptation of technology to a social setting.

In order to take an in-depth look at this concept, several different tools have been selected to ensure a variety of experiences are had. The tools that have been selected for this examination are Facebook, last.fm, and Google Calendar. These tools have different aims for the types of information they store, and the way users interact with each other, but they all provide a method for socially interacting with people, regardless of their location.

From both the extensive use of these tools, as well as interactions with other users, we will look at a selection of issues. This selection includes the increase in the feeling of connection to ones peers, some of the security issues and fears that have arisen, as well as some of the positive outcomes that have come from using such tools.

Each of the tools that are being examined here serves a different purpose within the spectrum of social and mobile computing, but a common goal is working towards improving interactions between users.

Google Calendar can be seen as being different from other applications in this class, as from the surface, the interaction layer is not prioritised, and is a fully functional application in a single user environment, as opposed to others, which require interactivity as a core component of functionality. However, once you begin to utilise the shared features that Google provides, the calendars that are shared can provide a wealth of information regarding others that you can then put to use. For instance, a shared calendar can provide the ability for a team to share a common set of tasks and deadlines, or a social group to share information regarding upcoming events. This ability to form groups, as well as being able to follow information regarding others and their availabilities, if they choose to share them, provides avenues to know more about a peer and their activities, increasing the feeling of connection.

Music is an almost ubiquitous part of society today. Apple sold over twenty two million iPod music devices in the final quarter of 2007 alone¹, so it seems only natural that people can find a common interest in what their peers are currently listening to. Last.fm provides a service to upload details about the tracks a user is enjoying through a connection of a local media player, and the last.fm website. This detail provides graphs and suggestions based on ones own musical selections, but also provides a means to compare your taste in music to that of your peers. Through these tools, one is not only able to find artists that both you and your peers are commonly interested in, one is able to sample new bands that their peers are currently enjoying, through a sample service provided via both the website and the supplied end user client. With the ability to learn new things about peers, the connections one may feel can be increased with the discovery of a common interest; did you really know that your best friend also enjoyed the musical styling of Kylie Minogue?

Of the tools that we are examining, Facebook is comfortably the most well known, and is one of the largest social networking sites on the Internet. In comparison to Google Calendar, Facebook can be seen as almost a polar opposite, with almost all of its functionality dependent on the interactions between users. Without this interaction, the site is virtually featureless, and so even from this very high level; it can be seen as cementing the levels of connection between users. However, if we dig down into the program, many of its features are aimed at improving this feeling of connection. Logging into the site provides a news feed, which provides constant updates on the changes your friends have made, whether it is updating their status, declaring a relationship, posting some photos, or simply communicating a message to another user. Through these items, one is able to look into the changes their friends have made to their profile, and therefore feel more in touch with what is happening in their lives. These morsels of information provide a feeling of connection with a peer, and can sometimes provide details that one may not necessarily be made aware of in a normal social situation.

Ever since people began using the Internet, security has been an issue for many. Community sites, such as message boards or forums, have been around since a time prior to the advent of the World Wide Web, and have promoted semi-anonymous posting through hiding behind screen names, and not giving away personal information. This concept of promoting a different online persona has continued on many different websites, however, social computing sites have forced a change of perspective for many users. These sites rely on users providing personal information in order to function as a social tool, and with that comes a new issue of online security.

Facebook, for instance, attempts to force users to use their real names when signing up, and users are able to find each other using this information. Furthermore, one can provide all kinds of personal information as a part of their user profile, which can be visible to users that you are not friends with, depending on privacy settings. With this in mind, however, the fear of security issues are only there if you are careless with your information, just as in the past. Take the concept of personal domain registration. Your information may be as simple to access as a whois lookup, which may include your full name, phone numbers, and address. All of this information is required when you register a domain, but some people do not seem to think about where this information goes, despite the fact that it becomes accessible by anyone connected to the Internet. If you have posted a link to a personal website elsewhere, and identified it as yours, someone would be able to query this data. Also, the concept of anonymity on parts on the Internet can lull one into a false sense of security, and let one release information that is seemingly harmless, but someone determined can pick up on, and use to trace down your information. So whilst these new sites offer you the chance to place personal information on your profile, they can also be locked down as part of the site structure to people who would most likely know such information. So whilst some believe that their personal information is less safe because they have willingly placed it on the Internet, may have already placed it unwillingly on there previously, and without the methods to control access to said information.

Finally, we can look at ways that these items can enrich our lives. Whilst on the surface, it can seem that one is just pushing information into a black hole of the Internet, wondering who will actually use this, it seems that positive aspects have come out of the use of every tool talked about here.

Google Calendar has provided a method of managing events with multiple people requiring access to the information, for instance, the management of a shared household. Place a shared calendar item regarding a bill, add notes on what needs to be paid, and everyone is able to see the same information. A simple example it may be, but it provides a way to harness the power of a shared space to have a single point of management.

Last.fm can definitely be seen as pushing data out for the sake of it. Every time one listens to a song, the Internet is told that it happens. With this though, one can learn about not only the common musical interests one has with their peers, but can harness the data to expand ones musical taste. The last.fm site can provide not only recommendations of artists one may like based on the similarity to previously played tracks, but can offer the ability to sample this music through custom online radio playback, rather than taking the suggestions blindly.

Facebook has provided people with a very convenient way of keeping in touch. Whether it be a message to a single person, updating your status to let your friends know if something is going on in your life, or inviting a group of people to an event, it all has the ability to bring people closer than they may have been otherwise. This concept has extended from when Facebook was limited to certain groups of university students and changed into a open use tool, providing people with methods of keeping in touch with contacts from their past, even if it is in a limited form. Whilst it may not replace other forms of communication and connection, it can certainly supplement it in ways that did not exist in the past.

In closing, the era of social and mobile computing tools is an interesting one. Whilst these tools don’t directly provide a solution to a definitive problem that society faced, they have been able to deliver fresh and innovative concepts when trying to stay in contact with peers. Not everything that comes of these types of ideas can be positive, but, in general, the end user experience is positive as long as one is accepting of the shift in usage that these types of sites bring. That is to say, the user must be willing to typically share something of their own in order to find the true depth of them, as opposed to more traditional Internet forums that would allow someone to sit back and watch the ebbs and flows.


References:

1 - http://www.macworld.com/article/131874/2008/01/ipodsales.html