e-Clippings (Learning As Art)

"Object-Centered Sociality" or What is Really at the Heart of Social Networks

I could've sworn I had posted about this before but I can't find it..but talk about old...the spur for this post is from 2005!

Now I saw this post in the Adaptive Path blog like a week or two ago; "The Shelf Life of Social Networks." The post seems to be asking about why there seems to be a rise and fall to social networks and should we worry about that or just go along with it. While at the Adaptive Path conference, UX Week 2007, I had seen this session and thought it was quite good; "UX Design as Communities of Practice." This of course led me back to re-read Etienne Wenger and then for some disjointed reason, I thought of this post from 2005.

The author, a PhD student named Jyri Engestrom, is interested "in the relationship between technical innovation and organizational transformation." The post in question is titled "Why some social network services work and others don't — Or: the case for object-centered sociality" and focuses on changing the discussion of why social networks seem to fade in and fade out of consciousness and usefulness not by looking at the network per se but seeking to understand why the network exists in the first place. Engestrom argues that any comparison of social networks without considering the underlying "object" at the heart of the network (LinkedIn=jobs, Facebook=friends) is too rough and conflates the networks with the objects; "The fallacy is to think that social networks are just made up of people. They're not; social networks consist of people who are connected by a shared object."

So then we can ask ourselves, is it really the half-life of a network we are looking at or rather the half-life of that network's associated object. That might grant us a different perspective on how people grow into and out of certain networked experiences. Anyway, I also find it interesting that we are still having this discussion two years down the line without having seemed to advance the sophistication of our models (or my own models anyway).

"Intel Launches social media experience Open Port" (PodTech)

(Link)

"Corporate Websites are losing a bit of relevance," says Bob Duffy, Intel's online community strategist. "Open Port is Intel's first public online community targeted at the IT tech enthusiast audience; it's a central destination for Social Media." Because of the Web every company is suddenly a media outlet. Intel says it has positioned itself to communicate directly with the users of its technology, especially the IT administrators and professionals who watch over networks and fleets of PCs.

"Researching Online Social Roles by Structural Signature Visualization Method" (via Smart Mobs)

(Smart Mobs link)
(study link)

excerpt from Smart Mobs post: "Given the multitude of possible social roles to be found within an online discussion group, the researchers limited their area of study and focused on only one role, that of the “answer person” in contrast with other kinds of roles, like the discussion person. The contributing behavior of a person who offers valuable information and advice in threaded online conversations can be explained by a desire to obtain social goods like status."

p.s. I am SERIOUSLY geeking out on the bibliography!

Good for introNetworks!

introNetworks Secures $2.7 Million in Series A Funding

I know the folks at introNetworks, Mark Sylvester and Guy Nadivi in particular, I've used their product a couple of times now (for a conference and as a skills database) and I've always been impressed with the product and important their willingness to work with folks on customizing it to your needs.

This post is overdue I know but I just wanted to say congrats...besides, Adobe investing...hmmm anyone else smell something that could incorporated into Connect?