BlogTalk Reloaded 1.2

Panel 1: Adolfo Estallela and Jan Schmidt

(tags: blogtalkreloaded)

adolfo estallela

“blogs, from communicative to connective artifacts”

cannot reduce blogs to texts; when we do, we miss some of their most interesting aspects

web 1.0 — social bounded settings: MUD, chat, newsgroup — interactions; public spaces, in which text and technology are detached; social interactions through text and images separated from technologies

social software — not just text and images; communication not separated from technology

what else is there beyond text and image? (social interactions in blogs)

— a blogger introduces a hyperlink to my blog

— my blog detects the link

— my blog sends me a notification

— the trackback mechanism generates a cross-link

the system generates the connection

blogs are more than text and images; they are a connecting infrastructure, too

a post is not just a piece of text, but also infrastructure; links created by system; conversations that take place through links — not just text

infrastructure does the work of establishing social interactions

jan schmidt

“social software: facilitating information-, identity- and relationship management”

what is social software? — change question to how do people use social software, and how do we study social software use?

social software is not new: chart of “the rise of citizen media”

analytical framework — uses of social software governed by rules, codes; result in relations

rules are generalizabel schemata for action (“social scripts”), guiding situational performance by providing shared expectations based on both previous actions and generalized knowledge

— adequacy rules — what format is suitable?

— procedural rules

relations can be hypertextual (links) or social (ties)

code allows or restricts certain actions, but is not fixed or stable or deterministic; actual use of social software is embedded in social practices

— production of technologies (how designers expect it to be used)

— appropriation of technologies (includingplayful or unwanted uses)

rules frame situative use

code facilitates situative use

relations are produced/maintained by situative use

but: relations are prerequisite for obtainment of gratification

questions: am I missing anything here? are there more structural dimensions? is there more to social software than info mgt, identity mgt, and relationship mgt? where does gender come into the picture?