There was this book I had to read as a freshman in James Madison (…which probably means nothing to non-MSU people, because most MSU people didn’t know what Madison was. It was the College within the University that focused mostly on political stuff. I was an International Relations major for two years before I realized I wasn’t going to be a politician or policy adviser. I switched into Telecom, and then Professional Writing, if you were curious. /tangent) called Bowling Alone. Honestly, it was a fairly forgettable book. The Federalist Papers were more interesting. But there was one thing that stuck with me after I was done reading, although I’m not sure it’s what I was supposed to get out of the thing. The author spoke about how people were becoming more and more cocooned in their own lives, encased in technology and engaging less with other people.
Which is a concept I took issue with at the time, and still do. Admittedly, yes, watching TV, playing Guitar Hero, and surfing the internet are individual sports. But they don’t have to stay that way. Technology lets these things, usually done alone, become group activities. Ask Jericho fans if they watch TV in a vacuum. Well, watched. It’s over now, but a group of strangers managed to get together, mostly virtually, and convince a network to put their show back on the air. You’re missing half the fun if you don’t talk to someone about Lost the day after they move the island, or about BSG when they reveal the final Cylon. Rock Band grew out of the idea that Guitar Hero would be more fun if everyone could play together. And I don’t think there’s a site I regularly visit that doesn’t have substantial user-added content (even if it’s just in comment or forum form). Technology isn’t tearing us apart, it’s pulling us together.
The interesting thing to me though, is that online communities seem like baby RL communities. People are still trying to figure out the rules and regulations, how to make virtual space worth inhabiting. The LambdaMOO debacle (academically fascinating, emotionally disturbing) really illustrates that. People come together and create a community, one that by its very nature seems to prevent order and discipline, and try to work out a way to keep it from descending into chaos. Ultimately, one guy had to step up to the plate, and I think that seemed to be Keen and Tenopir’s big issue with Web 2.0–there isn’t one guy to step up to the plate and take responsibility. There isn’t even a plate.
I think that’s the key to social computing as a concept. It’s not just the technologies and the communities, but how people build and use them, and why. Social networks, social software, and online communities are all aspects of social computing, but there is also an intensely individual and personal aspect to the concept that gets left out of those specific aspects. Through this class, I’m hoping to learn not just more about the mechanics of social computing, but also more about how social computing can improve individual’s experiences, online and in real life.
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