Computer-Mediated Collective Action Or, The Electrification of the Interaction Order Marc Smith Chief Social Scientist

(and more) is from people to people 2

Patterns are left behind 3

Sociological Frames: Collective Goods produced through Computer-Mediated Collective Action - Digital Augmentation of the Interaction Order - New forms of Social Network Ties

Interactionist Sociology Central tenet – Focus on the active effort of accomplishing interaction Phenomena of interest – Presentation of self – Claims to membership – Juggling multiple (conflicting) roles – Frontstage/Backstage – Strategic interaction – Managing one’s own and others’ “face” Methods – Ethnography and participant observation (Goffman, 1959; Hall, 1990)

The Fan Dance of Concealment And Exposure

Innovations in the interaction order: 45,000 years ago: Speech, body adornment 10,000 years ago: Amphitheater 5,000 years ago: Maps 150 years ago: Clock time -2 years from now: machines with socially awareness

When will my phone notice your phone?

Collective Action Dilemma Theory Central tenet – Individual rationality leads to collective disaster Phenomena of interest – Provision and/or sustainable consumption of collective resources – Public Goods, Common Property, "Free Rider” Problems, Tragedies – Signaling intent Methods – Surveys, interviews, participant observation, log file analysis, computer modeling (Axelrod, 1984; Hess, 1995; Kollock & Smith, 1996) Community Computer Mediated Collective Action

Common goods that require controlled consumption

Common goods that require collective contribution

Central tenet – Social structure emerges from the aggregate of relationships (ties) among members of a population Phenomena of interest – Emergence of cliques and clusters from patterns of relationships – Centrality (core), periphery (isolates), betweenness Methods – Surveys, interviews, observations, log file analysis, computational analysis of matrices (Hampton &Wellman, 1999; Paolillo, 2001; Wellman, 2001) Source: Richards, W. (1986). The NEGOPY network analysis program. Burnaby, BC: Department of Communication, Simon Fraser University. pp.7-16 Social Network Theory

13

Whyte, William H City: Rediscovering the Center. New York: Anchor Books.

Socially aware machines

16

Sensors, Routes, Community SpotMe: Wireless device for meetings and events Community Aspects: A Sociological Revolution?

18

Sensors, Routes, Community nTag: Electronic name badge Community Aspects: A Sociological Revolution?

Trace Encounters:

Sensors, Routes, Community Hardware

22

23

Social Omniscience (or, the event loop of existence): [1] Who has what I want? [2] Who wants what I have? [3] Repeat

Search in the Interaction Order Who are you? How do I know you? How do you know me? Who do we know in common? What do we have in common? Where do we go in common (but not necessarily at the same time)?

Reply-To Network Network at distance 2 for the most prolific author of the microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general newsgroup The Ties that Blind?

Darwin Bell 28

Answer person – Outward ties to local isolates – Relative absence of triangles – Few intense ties Reply Magnet – Ties from local isolates often inward only – Sparse, few triangles – Few intense ties Distinguishing attributes: 29

30 Excel.NetMap Add-in:

Tag Ecologies I Adamic et al. WWW 2008

Shifting from an Ephemeral society to an Archival Society

Computer-Mediated Collective Action Or, The Electrification of the Interaction Order Marc Smith Chief Social Scientist