Reflection

Jack Wang – s4142852

Introduction

In today’s society it’s not hard to find and learn about someone who you’ve only met once and begin some form of relationship without ever seeing that person face to face. With the rise of web 2.0, phone calls and the traditional methods of friendship building goes right out the window. Social applications on the internet have not only become a useful utility for socialising but for some people, browsing through information about hundreds of “friends” have become their lives. Now people of all ages can discuss topics of interest, share personal information, instant message and even play games with complete strange. “...modern Web are indeed reshaping our society, particularly of the younger generations that spend so much of their time there”.[3] So are these social applications all they’re cracked up to be? This reflection analyses how key innovative aspects of social applications which has shifted value to experience and empowers its users as well as any negative issues that arise from their usage. 

Background

There are many social applications widely available with a range of different functionalities and purpose. The stereotypical and the most common of theses are applications which mimics social gatherings between people where sharing thoughts, feelings, pictures and interests on any subject is object and intent of its users. However there are other applications that although are based upon the social communication structure, serves an entirely different purpose as Microsoft states “...to contributes to compelling and effective social interactions” [2], to allow users to share comments and images. There are numerous existing social applications available but for the purpose of this reflection only Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Last FM and Blogger will be focused on for the analysis and to draw experiences upon. 

Facebook is a complete social interactive application with enables its users to replace old fashion meet and greet with the modern day search and add. Users are able to post pictures, thoughts and feelings, play games, chat and join social groups which they take an interest to. 

Flickr is the online album for the social fanatic. Users can not only upload photos, images and videos but can tag them for convenience and to a place on the globe from where it was taken. Like all social applications users can add people and organise contacts and uploads in various ways.

Twitter is similar to Facebook where it’s “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” [1]. Twitter allows users to stay up to date with other users through short blogs on a user’s emotions or feels at the time it was posted and send direct instant messages to the another “follower’s” account.

Last FM is the application everyone wants as an actual radio. Here users can select favourite artists Last FM will search all the songs and albums of those artists for your hearing pleasure. Music videos are also available but it’s not the applications forte.

Last FM enables users to tag favourite songs within a user’s library making it easy to find as well as locating particular songs and artists via various different categories. The application wouldn’t be social with being able to add users and share music and that’s also just what you can do. 

Focus

As the usage of social applications become more of a norm more and more people are logging on and sharing and socialising with each other. And with an increase in demand there will undoubtedly be an increase in supply. As Applications such as Facebook and Twitter become more positive new social websites are popping out like rabbits. However, do these social applications provided users with a unique and genuine experience or are they simply some cheap knock off? As Dion Hinchcliffe states:

The generally accepted basic tenets of Social Computing are:
Innovation is moving from a top-down to bottom-up model 
2) Value is shifting from ownership to experiences
3) Power is moving from institutions to communities[3]

This reflection utilise experiences drawn from usage of the above social applications and conclude on what makes them a social success. 

Reflection

Facebook

Facebook is one of the most popular social applications. Its friends system is by far one of the best. Used by millions of people worldwide it’s not only a very convenient and useful tool to keep in touch with close friends, family and people in long distances but is also a form socialisation between people who’ve just met, friends of friends and even complete strangers. Users have the ability to search for others via different categories such as name (of course), school and year of graduation, email, age and even mobile number to name a few. It also enables public viewing of every user’s friends list because you never know who might know who. In my experience the ability to be able to flick through other people’s friends list has allowed me to find a handful of long lost friends using the many different search categories. It also gave me a chance to learn more about people I’ve only briefly from the information they provide on their profile pages as well as their photos 

Facebook allows its users to post photos, videos and images where people within photos and videos can be tagged to also appear on their own profiles. The tag function can be used in ways with hilarious results where I’ve often found myself tagged on a Pokemon Poster as “the athletic pokemon” or as “the jock” on a poster of cartoon characters. Comments can also be left to express viewers’ opinion. One negative aspect of this system is Facebook’s non-existent restrictions on images where they can be viewed by anyone. However I have often immersed myself amongst the many photos and their comments and am very impressed with the convenience the tagging system creates. Comments can also be left on a user’s current feelings and emotions and also on the “walls” of friends, a message board where users can leave a message of some form for the user to see at a later time. This I found to be a sometimes humorous but often entertaining and great way to have a conversation that allowed time to be taken in order to consider what to say as well as showing friends that they are on your mind. 

To increase the feeling of socialisation Facebook gives its users the opportunity to join social groups on celebrities, movies, food and just about anything. This provided a great way to meet people with similar interests and share quirky comments on the topic.

 

Flickr:

Flickr allows its users to add friends as contacts and search for friends in far off lands but the application is somewhat very different. Instead of focusing on the social aspect of human interaction the main objective of Flickr is for users to share and express pictures and videos. Although sharing media with expressive comments underneath is nothing new and Facebook does also provide this feature, Flickr does it with a twist. 

The first thing about Flickr which stood out was the display of recently updated or added pictures from mine and my contact list allowing users to stay up to date with friends and family. It allows users organise your pictures into sets, tag them to make it easier for those photogenic users with thousands of pictures to find at a later date. While using the application I often find myself wishing my computer illiterate, overseas family members could to use the program as it would provide a great way to share photos with an added quirky or witty description.

Unlike many other social applications Flickr has the ability for users to sort contacts into separate groups. This in particular makes life very easy where other sites involves users search by name or scrolling through the hundreds of contacts Flickr provides an easy and convenient way to locate a contact. 

Another interesting feature was a map of the world which media can be tagged to a specific landmark or location to provide a description without the use of words. Other features include organising favourites amongst what can very easily develop into a library of media and the ability for users monitor the viewing frequency of everything. The application essentially is one massive interactive photo album but once a user experiences its various features it’s easy to simply lose yourself in the sea of video and imagery social environment. As a user I particularly enjoyed and is what make the application great are its “explore” functions which allows users to view photos and videos posted by users all over the world, common and creative tags and popular tags. Flickr even gives users reviews on cameras. This is one aspect I particularly enjoyed using as I flicked through in awe at the many pictures from all over the world. 

Twitter:

From first glance Twitter shares many similar traits with Facebook and many other social applications out there. Its interface is customisable, allows users to update their own status; Friends called “followers” can be added to a contact list, it has a home page displaying the most recent updates from followers and the users and a profile page and a friends finder. However there are features which make it unique and addictive. 

One of the most innovative features the application provides is its ability for users to update their status on the go from a mobile phone. Although providing a great way to change the status one can’t help but wonder what the phone bill for an overly addicted user would look like. Communication to my followers using the application consists of “direct messages” which essentially felt just like sending an email from one twitter account to another. 

Overall Twitter seemed dull. Although its reduced number of features and gadgets compared to other social applications creates a sense of simplicity and user friendliness and even with the very cool feature of mobile SMS updating I couldn’t help but feel that this is one site that the more socially interactive user will get bored of very quickly. 

Last FM

Last FM is builds its social network connecting friends and their music tastes. The application is one big music library consisting of information on music artists, video clips, album information and of course the music itself. The first time a user logs into the application it asks for favourite artists. This was one aspect I particularly liked as the application immediately located the artists, their album and songs for my listening pleasure, all of which can be added to a library of favourite songs. 

The structure of Last FM is not only simple but very user friendly. When an artist is selected users are taken to a page displaying photos, background information, albums and top tracks ordered in the number of play backs by users. A “shout box” is provided on every song, video, album and artists to comment sharing. The application even provides a list of artists with similar music styles making life easier for users to locate favourites of a similar genre. The application provides users with almost everything related to a single artist. Along with photos, albums and tracks from a particular artist a bibliography is provided for the fanatics with recent news and up and coming events for relating to an artist. 

Music can be searched by from the search function as well as through similar artists, albums and tags. The application even provides recommendations of music based on the type of music which I listened to most. On the social aspect the home page features recently listened to tracks are displayed along with a library and the ability to sync an Ipod to the library. Friends and an update of activities from users and friends are also displayed within the page. One thing missing from the application is its lack of customisation abilities for users’ profile page unlike other social site. However the page is displayed according to user preferences creating a feel of ownership at the same time a small sense of socialisation. Users can also join social groups and forums on particular artists and events enhancing the social aspect and feel to the application.

One annoying aspect of Last FM is the site only gives users a 30 second preview of music specifically selected. Full length songs can only be listened to through the “radio” function which not only features the selected artist but also similar artist. This I found to be more of a nuisance than a useful feature when in the mood for a particular song or artist but is quite enjoyable when simply relaxing in the bedroom. Each song however is tagged by genre and artist to make navigation easy from any point in time. 

Of course no music related site is complete with the ability to buy the music being listened to. Last FM provides users with a quick and simple way of acquiring every song with the option to download and buy the track via iTune. With the world becoming increasingly digitised Last FM will no doubt become one the more popular applications as it gains popularity.

Conclusion

The world is rapidly evolving from the humble days of multiple phone conversations to chat rooms and not to an age dominated by social applications. Social applications are now “enabling global connections and providing rich social experiences. Social networking services challenge established notions of privacy, identity and relationship management.”[4] Sites such as Facebook, Flickr and Delicious would enjoy the most clicks and members. However judging from personal experience it was clear the not all of these can succeed and become the giants that some have already turned into. To attract members the key factor is for users to enjoy using the application. To gain enjoyment there must be a certain uniqueness and originality to keep users hooked.

Facebook does a wonderful job of this with its user friendliness and its many features and it’s no wonder it enjoy so much success. Twitter although not as popular does have some genuinely distinctive qualities. If there was a word to describe Flickr it would be fun. The site is easy to navigate and has a certain appeal to it due to the originality of itself in a market full of applications with similar features. The same can’t be said about Last FM as it seems to be totally unique and original in its social concept and its potentially enormous appeal a very wide range of audiences. After all it’s a dog eat dog world and its every social application for itself and it seems only the first of an innovative idea will appeal to the greatest number of audiences. So for many applications without any form of originality and uniqueness that Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Last FM contain it would simply be a matter of if you can stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. 

Reference

[1] Twitter - www.twitter.com April 01 2009 

[2] Microsoft. Social Computing- http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/scg/ April 03 2009 

[3] ZDNet. The shift to Social Computing. Dion Hinchcliffe - http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/index.php?p=21 April 03 2009

[4] asis&t. ASIS&T Social Computing Summit- http://www.asis.org/Conferences/SCS08/SCS08.html April 02 2009