My Reflection

Name: Terence McKernan
Student Number: s4098298

Many people in today’s society depend on the internet for social networking. The concept of CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) is very much in evidence with the use of technology in the social dimension framework. The trend of the internet with social networking first emerged with Friendster in March 2002. The founder intended the site to be a useful tool for networking individuals in a virtual community. In fact, the very basic human need to interact and connect with like-minded or similar types of individuals or groups is the cause and reason for the emergence of this phenomenon. In Sociology, various analyses of social networking and why humans need to do so is apparent here. The CSCW group time space matrix is applied where, there is the “asynchronous distributed interaction (different place/different times)” and the “synchronous distributed interaction (different places/same time)”. In addition, internet social networking is viral and instead of the limitations of face to face interaction (same place, same time) and forums, the possibility of reaching out and widening the extent of contacts is enormous. Due to this, Friendster immediately became a success and it didn’t take very long for others to replicate and improve on this technology. Since then, more similar services have emerged like Myspace which at present has the largest share of the market in terms of pageviews and membership and has more functionalities than Friendster for instance. In discussing this virtual social phenomenon and the HCI (Human Computer Interaction), Facebook and Last.FM will be examined and evaluated in terms of social networking and how they compare and differ with each other. It will also discuss the problems and benefits of the applications and functionalities within each system.

Facebook:

In 2004, Facebook was established by a Harvard student purely to provide a social information service unavailable offline for students within the campus. It was interactive and exclusive but due to its popularity and driven by the commercial value attached to it, the site was soon available to membership on a global scale using the “network” system. Facebook relies heavily on interaction between people as its main focus is to strengthen the connection between members.

Facebook’s success can be attributed to a few factors like its tools. There are a large number of different applications on Facebook which allow people to share photos, comments, as well as quizzes to connect individuals with one another from any geographical location. There are plenty of entertaining applications such as sending gifts and cards to friends which work quite well. Each of the applications being analysed serve different purposes within social networking.

There is an “events” application that allows people to find out what events are happening in their local area and also worldwide. This is very useful and popular amongst the members or users. It enables people to RSVP to the invite, so users can see other people who are also attending the event.

The “groups” application provides users to search and join groups which may be of interest to the user. Groups are created randomly by individuals on Facebook, which become visible to those (interested parties) through the search tool within the application. Some groups may be from past locations people have been for work as an example, while others are more hobby/music based. This application is useful because it connects those who share common interests and facilitates people to share ideas, photos and comments. This is much like the “events” application and leaves anything open for discussion.

There are however some applications that are problematic like broken links that require constant refreshing in order for it to work; or require the user to visit the page at a later date. For example the “pet pupz” application requires regular refreshing and constantly needs updating on the system’s behalf. Also the photos do not always show when they are uploaded. Pictures from friends in the system also have trouble appearing at times and are shown with a red cross instead. This can result to a diminished the connectivity between users due to a lack of communication.

The “edit” tool allows it’s users to upload photos to their account. A problem here is when a new picture is uploaded; it automatically becomes the profile picture. If the user does not wish to have this as their profile picture, they have to choose their previous one by going into their “my photos” and selecting the previous one. This is a run about way of performing the task.

The success of Facebook is attributed to the normal social human behaviour of wanting to socially interact. One example which is a positive outcome and clearly signifies the need to connect with peers is the notifications of what friends are doing and who they are contacting appear when signing-in. These notifications allow the user to see the brief actions and comments made from friends to others like new acquaintances. This further facilitates contact to someone who is currently not on the “friends list” but would like to add.

Many tools such as the “superwall”, “funwall”, hugs and gifts application can all increase the feeling of connection to friends and family. The “groups” application can increase the user’s feeling of connection to peers simply by being part of the group and sharing common interests. Regardless of the positives there are also some negative experiences in the same applications of the “superwall” or “funwall”. When these applications are added, strangers can randomly add posts that are undesirable and which also may be offensive. “Quizzes” that are sent by friends that request to reveal personal information do not mention that it will be placed for public view on the user’s profile or not. This may be information that the user does not wish others to see. This is when the user can experience an invasion of privacy.

Last.FM:

Another popular system with internet users is the site of Last.FM. The success of this virtual destination depended on a hugely popular interest which also brings people together i.e. music. Like Facebook, the ability to become connected in a social network due to similar interests is also evident. The user can join groups, a function that is very similar to that of Facebook. The visitor can find out which events are currently featuring so that those interested can go deeper into the pages and find out more information. This functionality is once again similar to Facebook. Both systems have fulfilled the social networking needs of people with common interests in order to bring them together.

Last.FM contains a program available to download off the site which provides members with a search function. It works well because it lets you discover a wide range of music artists which would normally be difficult to find when using a random keyword search with a search engine for example. When you enter an artist’s name or tag inside the search engine it will randomly select a song by that artist, or will play songs from similar artists of the same genre if the original artist cannot be found. Songs can also be tagged and added to a play list created by the user. Users can even share their interest of a track by posting comments on each track such as a blog. Other Last.FM users can also see your recent played tracks from either the Last.FM program or simply from the play list in windows media player.

A few limitations that were considered problematic with Last.Fm which may deter some users are issues like: When trying to play a song again from the Last FM’s song history, it only plays back the last 30 seconds of the track, rather than playing the entire track from the start. This can be frustrating as the user may have to then look for other systems/programs to play/find that particular song again. However no broken links were found such as that in Facebook.

The ability to receive things for free is another drawcard that Last.fm uses to connect people together. The “free downloads” button lets its users search for a particular genre of music and will display which songs are available at the time to download for free. This is a positive outcome for users as they do not have to pay for the music or have to search the net for hours to find it.

Facebook contains some complicated tools which may deter some users or may require them to music. Here you can see what they are listening to as well as their play list history. While this would seem like an invasion privacy, in my opinion, there is in fact a feeling of unspoken connection with these peers due to similarities in play list. This does not really reveal too much personal information but rather it provides insights to members’ taste and likes or dislikes. All tools are relatively user friendly in Last.fm. However, Last.FM does not provide a chat room therefore there is a limitation on spontaneous posting and exchange of ideas and opinions on a certain artist or genre of music.

The “users” button/tool at the top of the page displays a list of Last.FM users currently listening to usually the case when two users share a passion for underground music. Although this does demonstrate some connection, Facebook is much more adept in establishing connections between users. It is not only based on one site purpose like that of Last.FM, Facebook encompasses a larger array of applications which showcase more hobbies/interests for users to connect through.

The comments and observations made above on these two popular social networking websites are based on personal experience. In conclusion, the era of digital technology has provided individuals with a relatively safe and user friendly approach to social networking through the use of different applications. This phenomenon is proof of the extension and growth of the different applications in social and mobile computing.

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http://chimprawk.blogspot.com/2006/01/situational-relevance-in-social.html