Computing applications that support group interaction have been used for a while, but they were intended for corporate use only. Nowadays, there is a whole new generation of these applications that encourage group interaction for social purposes. Since the flow of information has increased considerably, our need to be aware of what is happening at all times has grown by the same amount. New social applications have emerged to satisfy this need of awareness. Where will this tendency lead us? Since technology is constantly changing, it is hard to tell how the next applications will look like. That is why they are worth to be analysed.
Some of the most popular tools available are Flickr, Google Calendar, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Del.icio.us, Yahoo! Pipes, etcetera. Flickr is a system that allows people to share their own pictures, make and receive comments. Flickr is RSS enabeled, which means that you can subscribe to the RSS feed of any user and be aware of the photos he o she has submitted. Google Calendar is a very powerful tool which allows you to manage all your activities in an agenda-like style. You can make your calendar public so that everybody can subscribe to your RSS feed and know what you will be doing. Facebook is, in my opinion, the ultimate social tool in terms of versatility. This social system allows you to be aware of almost every move within the networks that you belong to. Besides, many applications that run inside Facebook emerge everyday adding a lot of new interesting features to the system. Twitter is a simple tool that answers one simple question, “What are you doing?”. With this tool you can be aware of what other people is doing at a glance. Last.fm tool; do you want to know what you are really listening to? Do you want to know what other people is listening to? You can do all these things with this tool. Del.icio.us is the site to go to retrieve your favourite sites list and to know what other people is tagging over the web. Yahoo! Pipes is a powerful tool. You can concentrate as many feeds as you like in the same place so that you can view them at once.
The most common feature that is found on these tools is awareness. Awareness is what seems to drive these applications and what users tend to look for when joining them. The more applications I joined, the more aware I was about almost everybody I know.
But do we really need to be aware of everything? What are the benefits of being aware, and what are the disadvantages? As with everything, social and mobile tools have its advantages and disadvantages. The direct benefits of these tools are that we have now access to more information, we interact with many people either at the same time or different times, and information flows more rapidly, almost instantaneously. But what are the probable disadvantages of these tools? With many of these tools you are more reachable than ever. But what if I do not want to be reachable? Sometimes is better to be inaccessible. What about identity or privacy issues? Many benefits and problems arise when dealing with these applications. Maybe it is not a good idea that everybody knows everything about you.
But we are living in the age of information, and whether we like it or not we are surrounded by information. How we use that information, and what information we use are the most important things. Well designed social tools allow you to control the flow of information by filtering it. Facebook, for example, is very concerned about privacy. You can control who sees what with a few clicks of the mouse.
I have used Facebook for about a year and my overall experience has been very good. I am aware of what my friends are doing, and they are aware of what I am doing. I can share photos easily. I can send messages very quickly. I can join groups and interact with their members by discussing and posting messages. I have not discovered everything that Facebook has to offer, but I am sure there is a lot more to see there.
What should be the next step in social computing? We do not know. But it is going to be based on awareness. Many things are going to be polished and many of the problems will be solved but awareness will remain as a constant. As long as we keep being curious, we will keep having the need to know as more as we can about everything.
Some of the most popular tools available are Flickr, Google Calendar, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Del.icio.us, Yahoo! Pipes, etcetera. Flickr is a system that allows people to share their own pictures, make and receive comments. Flickr is RSS enabeled, which means that you can subscribe to the RSS feed of any user and be aware of the photos he o she has submitted. Google Calendar is a very powerful tool which allows you to manage all your activities in an agenda-like style. You can make your calendar public so that everybody can subscribe to your RSS feed and know what you will be doing. Facebook is, in my opinion, the ultimate social tool in terms of versatility. This social system allows you to be aware of almost every move within the networks that you belong to. Besides, many applications that run inside Facebook emerge everyday adding a lot of new interesting features to the system. Twitter is a simple tool that answers one simple question, “What are you doing?”. With this tool you can be aware of what other people is doing at a glance. Last.fm tool; do you want to know what you are really listening to? Do you want to know what other people is listening to? You can do all these things with this tool. Del.icio.us is the site to go to retrieve your favourite sites list and to know what other people is tagging over the web. Yahoo! Pipes is a powerful tool. You can concentrate as many feeds as you like in the same place so that you can view them at once.
The most common feature that is found on these tools is awareness. Awareness is what seems to drive these applications and what users tend to look for when joining them. The more applications I joined, the more aware I was about almost everybody I know.
But do we really need to be aware of everything? What are the benefits of being aware, and what are the disadvantages? As with everything, social and mobile tools have its advantages and disadvantages. The direct benefits of these tools are that we have now access to more information, we interact with many people either at the same time or different times, and information flows more rapidly, almost instantaneously. But what are the probable disadvantages of these tools? With many of these tools you are more reachable than ever. But what if I do not want to be reachable? Sometimes is better to be inaccessible. What about identity or privacy issues? Many benefits and problems arise when dealing with these applications. Maybe it is not a good idea that everybody knows everything about you.
But we are living in the age of information, and whether we like it or not we are surrounded by information. How we use that information, and what information we use are the most important things. Well designed social tools allow you to control the flow of information by filtering it. Facebook, for example, is very concerned about privacy. You can control who sees what with a few clicks of the mouse.
I have used Facebook for about a year and my overall experience has been very good. I am aware of what my friends are doing, and they are aware of what I am doing. I can share photos easily. I can send messages very quickly. I can join groups and interact with their members by discussing and posting messages. I have not discovered everything that Facebook has to offer, but I am sure there is a lot more to see there.
What should be the next step in social computing? We do not know. But it is going to be based on awareness. Many things are going to be polished and many of the problems will be solved but awareness will remain as a constant. As long as we keep being curious, we will keep having the need to know as more as we can about everything.
s41577224, Miguel Estrada
3 comments:
good points about awareness.
The awareness aspect your talking about is interesting but I find that you didn't really provide enough information on how it applies specifically to the services. How are they are making me aware of others? Why is this important?
Also, you've got a couple of spelling and grammar mistakes in there.
I agree with Salmon.
Awareness is important because it helps social interaction between users of a site and hence makes a website more fun and useful to use and successful for them.
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