Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Only Rave Reviews 9:40:09 PM     What You Smell Like, versus Your Features and Functionality. "Ever watch dogs social-networking ? They cut to the chase pretty quickly" (A comment I left on Teledyn the blog) "ROTFL !" (the response by Gary Lawrence Murphy - mrG) Gary has written an excellent analysis of why this first wave of what is called social-networking software is badly flawed. I can't help thinking that a default mindset to the mental models of engineering, and the seeming male predilection for things, gizmos, linear thinking, whatever - is one of the key reasons why this first wave won't work.  This was recently brought home to me very clearly.  I belong to a small group of seven guys roughly 40 to 50 years old.  We formed this group ostensibly to help each other with business opportunities and such like, although to me it's clear that the main value of this group is in providing a place where these fledgling men can talk about things that matter to them.  I don't think most of them see it that way - whenever the interaction gets rich and useful, they want to get back to business and money stuff. However ... recently we have discussed (again) whether to use email, forums, a bulletin board, a blog, and so on to keep in touch - we've tried them all, and the group wants some clarity on this.  But ... what I found interesting about this back-and-forth conversation was the impatience that came through when talking about the *process*  -  contrasted by the fervour and enthusiasm when a question in one of the emails led to a flurry of emails about what was best - a smartphone, a Treo, a Sony Clie, etc.  All of a sudden, several emails were full of the minute details of this feature or that functionality or the per-month price or what kinds of software were available. Like young boys with new toy cars. Have there been any women involved in designing social-networking software ?  I think there should be. Here's a tasty excerpt from mrG's musings on social-networking: the failure of the social network sites And yes, I do think they will fail, it's inevitable. Whether by intentional design or by blind emulations, these new black-book stop-shops all share several dubious characteristics: they are not social networks, only flat-taxonomy directories of questionaire replies, and badly designed questionaires at that. because they do not interoperate, because they cannot share data or interchange or allow identity migrations, they are essentially anti social, building protectionist walls around people (called 'clubs' or 'communities' but really meaning the opposite) they don't work. So why don't they work? Because they are not social networks. A social network is a network with a social cause, a social reason for being. Social networks fill a niche need for interaction. Church clubs, business clubs, square-dance clubs, these form natural, anthropologically sound social networks with the intelligent self-organization moving from the local (chapter) out to the regional and then clustering still beyond. They are also self-governing, electing their executives from grassroots, organizing on the need to expand the social network.   [wirearchy News] 1:44:21 PM     Alicia L. Cervini's Thesis on Social Networking Software Identifies a number of Useful themes: First, Social Networking software is not just the recent flurry of online networking tools. Instead, it is the whole sphere of software-based tools that allow people to manage (track contacts ), grow (find new contacts to extend the network), and communicate with your social network.  This includes, email, IRC, blogs, as well as Ryze, Friendster, etc. Second, the two goals of software enabled social networking are 1 - To manage more than 150 contacts that we could probably do effectively on paper or in our heads, and 2 - To move this new extended network beyond merely an online set of "friends" to a real-world set of contacts who affiliate/meet/collaborate (in general participate in shared activities), around shared purposes/interests. In other words, it is not because you both like red wine, that you connect, but because you like it enough to for a friendship around wine tasting events.  The members of your wine tasting "group" actually meet to taste wine, hear about new wines, learn about viniculture, etc.  And they form relationships based on all the extra connections that come from being in the wine tasting group space together - in other words they form a small community. If Social Networking Software does not contribute to a shift from online contact to real-world interactions, then it will not survive.  So the key is the ability to form Networks/Tribes, etc and Create Events that people actually attend. If Churches, and Book Clubs, Fraternities, and Sports Teams are examples of Real-world affiliations that can be successful in forming real friendships.  How can social networking software facilitate 1 & 2 above.  Can the software enable you to manage a network beyond 150 people, and can the software enable you to get together with some subset of these people around a shared activity (like church, or politics, or sports, etc). If SNS cannot do this then maybe it has degenerated into a form of entertainment, where you can play with the pictures and interests of others to form endless webs of potential connections that never really come to anything - wasting time doing this can be entertaining, but it is not social networking. 1:42:51 PM     First, I like Don Norman, But - his annoying primadonna style of presenting information was a bit offputting.  Maybe I only heard one or two segments of this show, but it seemed like he has no tact. Don, let me suggest that you listen to what people are saying, then respond to what they are saying before letting it rip with a different point of view.  You may have great ideas, or have arrived at a pretty accurate picture of what's going on in communication styles, but your own mastery of interaction would seem poor.  Build on what people say - integrating it into your worldview or the worldview of some others that you disagree with -  rather than merely taking someone's heartfelt experience as a data point for launching into your views. ==================== User interface guru Don Norman is on The Connection today talking about why cell phones are so annoying. Wow, Howard Rheingold is on now. [Scripting News] 12:15:01 PM     Why does the singularity need to be distorted into an "evil" singularity - I feel like I'm in the group therapy session of Dr. Evil and his son - when the son is describing what he might like to do (instead of taking over the evil empire) and Dr. Evil keeps interjecting the word "evil" An "EVIL" petting zoo? Technology does not have to become EVIL - but I suppose it helps to capture attention and draw people in to even think about ideas like the Singularity. ============================ The Panopticon Singularity - Big Brother Is Already Watching You. Charlie Stross wrote a powerful, chilling essay for the ill-fated Whole Earth Magazine charting the nascency of The Panopticon Singularity: "a police state characterised by omniscient surveillance and mechanical law enforcement." A Panopticon Singularity is the logical outcome if the burgeoning technologies of the singularity are funneled into automating law enforcement. Previous police states were limited by manpower, but the panopticon singularity substitutes technology, and ultimately replaces human conscience with a brilliant but merciless prosthesis. With the demise of Whole Earth, Stross published his original draft on the Web. He details ten emerging technologies that will enable such a dystopia and outlines the currently apparent pathway for its creation. The list will be familiar to readers of Smart Mobs. A must-read. Thanks, Tex! [Smart Mobs] 10:18:19 AM     Thanks for the post Ms. Riba ============================ How adorable. Shh! Don't tell NASA! The Spirit Rover has her own LiveJournal. It's so sweet. Let me just quote for you the latest entries: Tuesday, January 27th, 2004 2:10 pm god, i just can't win. now that nasa is being all careful around me, i just want to get back to work. except i know that when that happens i'll want them to leave me alone again. why can't i just be happy at whatever i'm doing? it's like i don't know how to enjoy things anymore. what's wrong with me? Sunday, January 25th, 2004 9:43 pm opportunitygrrl?!? okay, which of you told her about livejournal? you're so off my friends list. Saturday, January 24th, 2004 9:06 pm well, she's here. thank god there is an entire planet between us. we had to share an assembly room back at jpl. never again. It's just so cute; reminds me of some of the people on my own Friend List... [Riba Rambles:] 10:06:39 AM     Laundry List of the time consuming activities of social networking websites that have become annoying recently. Imagine maintaining presences on all the following sites: Friendster, LinkedIn, Tribe, Orkut, Ryze, Spoke, ZeroDegrees, Ecademy, RealContacts, Ringo, MySpace, Yafro, EveryonesConnected, Friendzy, FriendSurfer, Tickle, Evite, Plaxo, Squiby, and WhizSpark. 10:00:28 AM     Social Nets Not Making Friends. As the number of social networking services like Friendster continues to swell, the technorati are pushing back. An antisocial backlash is afoot. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News] 9:57:27 AM

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