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2009 | Buch

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Computer-Mediated Social Networking

First International Conference, ICCMSN 2008, Dunedin, New Zealand, June 11-13, 2008, Revised Selected Papers

herausgegeben von: Maryam Purvis, Bastin Tony Roy Savarimuthu

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Buchreihe : Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This volume constitutes the revised selected papers of the First International Conference, ICCMSN 2008, held in Dunedin, New Zealand, in June 2009. The 19 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 34 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on virtual environments and second life; knowledge networks and learning in social networks; applications and integration of social networking systems as well as social concepts associated with social networking.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Virtual Environments and Second Life

Designing Physical and Virtual Communities

Abstract

In this paper I outline the characteristics of built environments that are believed to be effective in supporting social activity in physical space. I then discuss the degree to which these features can be translated into digital space. I argue that, although we can learn much from studying place-based communities, simply replicating the appearance of participants, architectural backdrops, and urban forms online is an ineffective strategy. Screen-based social sites should be designed with the specifics of the medium in mind. If we wish to build effective online communities, we also need to gain a better understanding of the complex nature of interpersonal and group communication, and of the social, cultural, political, and physical context in which it takes place.

Mark McGuire

Virtual Experience: Observations on Second Life

Abstract

This paper presents some observations on the educational possibilities offered by the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), Second Life (SL) and is based on the author’s interactions and experiences as a Second Life resident, educator and mentor. Beginning as an individual exploration of a new technology, primarily for pleasure but always with an opportunistic eye for education, the author has spent hundreds of hours in Second Life over the past 18 months and reports on the special nature of this environment and the challenges that it presents for educators. These observations are based primarily on her experiences, supported by reference to the small but growing literature base and are therefore necessarily subjective and intended to be thought provoking rather than definitive.

Clare Atkins

Second Life: The Future of Social Networking?

Abstract

Second Life is a sophisticated 3D Virtual World which has emerged from the 3D gaming genre to become a potentially significant environment for social networking. While it still has a gaming community, its rapidly increasing popularity over the last year or so has much more to do with the wider interest being shown in its use for education, social networking, and business. Second Life has developed an economy linked to the real world which provides a more compelling argument for being self-sustaining than is the case with current social-technical systems such as FaceBook. Second Life, as with other similar Virtual World systems, is a complex environment in which a virtual culture is established by both the capabilities of the environment and also the actors in that environment in which many themes exist concurrently and can interact and interfere with each other. In this chapter we look at Second Life and assess its strength as a social networking environment using the Web of System Performance (WOSP) methodology.

Malcolm Shore, Qinglan Zhou

Building Content in Second Life – Issues Facing Content Creators and Residents

Abstract

The advent of virtual communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplay Games (MMORPGs) is a relatively recent phenomenon. One such virtual community, the Second Life world, allows its residents to create unique content, such as clothes, hair, buildings, furniture; even vehicles. The variety of possibilities is encompassed by the phrase, “Your World, Your Imagination” which features prominently on the Linden Lab web site. Content authors use tools provided by Linden Lab to create items for their own use, or to be given away or sold to other players. We examine the tools provided to produce content within Second Life, concentrating on issues caused by limitations in the tools, and proposing solutions to some of the more vexing problems caused by these limitations.

Patricia S Crowther, Robert J Cox

A Review of Linden Scripting Language and Its Role in Second Life

Abstract

The Second Life virtual world (SL) created by Linden Lab (LL) provides a rich three-dimensional environment, allowing the residents of this virtual community to create and trade unique content. Linden Scripting Language (LSL) is used to enhance the SL experience by providing a programming language capability for created objects. Primitives (prims) are the atomic objects from which complex objects are built; they can be scripted using LSL In this paper we specifically look at how LSL affects the SL experience, its strengths and weaknesses, and propose enhancements, also seeking to find where it has been innovative or unusual. One of the biggest problems in SL is lag – the way the experience slows under load. LSL scripts contribute considerably to lag and we look at how the design of the language attempts to assist in keeping the SL experience enjoyable.

Robert J Cox, Patricia S Crowther

Knowledge Networks and Learning in Social Networks

Embedding Professional Knowledge: The ‘Middle Layer’ in an Online Community Ecosystem

Abstract

This paper reports on an interpretive case research project that investigated how online communities facilitate the embedding of professional knowledge. The study context was a New Zealand programme that aimed to integrate ICT into school teaching, while building a student-centred pedagogy. For many participants, this amounted to paradigm shift, challenging the nature of the teacher’s role. An informal, unofficial Web 2.0-based community was found to play a key role in embedding the new paradigm. This community formed a bridging, or middle layer between local communities and an international network. Members of the middle layer acted as knowledge intermediaries, undertaking various social and technological practices to drive the embedding process. These practices included filtering incoming knowledge, feeding it to followers, recycling and recombining ideas, and providing a just-in-time support system. The middle layer can be seen as forming a key part of a knowledge ecosystem, within which patterns of feeding and recycling occurred.

Jocelyn Cranefield, Pak Yoong

Fostering Sociability in Learning Networks through Ad-Hoc Transient Communities

Abstract

Lifelong learners somehow need to fulfil their competence development needs. Traditionally, this has been done mainly in formal settings. However, this paper argues from the assumption that non-formal educational settings are much better suited; particularly so if a Learning Network is used to provide a social environment in which to embed learning opportunities. A Learning Network is not nor consists of communities from the outset; its community-like nature should emerge from the interactions of its inhabitants and evolve over time. How can this be done? Although learners might have several long-term motives to engage socially, the paper notes that little is known about their short-term motives. The notion of ad-hoc transient communities is then introduced as a promising mechanism to drive the emergence and evolution of social behaviour in Learning Networks. Subsequently, various theoretical notions for why such communities can provide the short-term motives sought are discussed. A short discussion of future areas for research closes the paper.

Peter B. Sloep

Inter-organisational Knowledge Transfer and Computer Mediated Social Networking

Abstract

This research in progress paper reports on the results of a pilot study investigating the transfer of knowledge in a social network, such as a Community of Practice, that comprises members of various organisations and therefore represents knowledge transfer at an inter-organisational level. The study aims to identify and analyse knowledge transfer structures and processes in inter-organisational social networks, which are embedded in the larger R&D network. This paper presents some interim results using a mixed method approach of case research and social network analysis. Specifically, initial relations between tie strength, type of knowledge transferred as well as preferred media characteristics were discovered. Most central organisations in the network were identified. From these findings, the overarching goal is to investigate where information and communication technology could be utilised for continuous online knowledge transfer.

Silke Retzer, Pak Yoong

SME Knowledge Transfer through Social Networking: Leveraging Storytelling for Improved Communication

Abstract

Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) require different techniques to facilitate communication and collaboration as they transition to larger organisations. New knowledge management (KM) practices and tools enable an enhanced knowledge transfer by leveraging practices such as storytelling with a new generation of web 2.0 technologies providing an individualised and customisable user experience including virtual social interactions, shared collaborative portals, wikis, communication tools, and ‘folksonomies’. This paper presents the findings of a case study on KM approaches to knowledge transfer through social networking systems.

Fa Martin-Niemi, Richard Greatbanks

Computer-Mediated Social Networking for Mentoring of Health Professionals

Abstract

Health professionals (HPs) appear to be aware of computer-mediated social networking in terms of the software, but there are few examples of it being integrated into clinical practice, education or professional development. Yet social networking has the potential to play a role in the facilitation of mentoring support and professional development which has been recognized as vital to maintaining the recruitment and retention of HPs. This paper describes an ongoing study that is investigating how nurses and allied health staff are making use of an email e-mentoring system that was set up in 2007. The staff have not engaged with the closed email e-mentoring system because of a lack of understanding of mentoring especially in an online context, poor computer skills and an inability to develop a mentoring relationship at a distance. Whilst social networking may not solve all these issues, it has the potential to facilitate a community approach to mentoring which increases access to learning and support opportunities.

Sarah Stewart

Applications and Integration of Social Networking Systems

The Use of Digital Photo Frames as Situated Messaging Appliances

Abstract

SMS messaging has traditionally been utilised for person-to-person messaging. Some researchers have recognised the value in using SMS for person-to-location messaging, but such technology has been largely confined to the laboratory. We argue that commercially available digital photo frames provide a low-cost opportunity for situated display technology, and that such technology can be used for person-to-location SMS messaging. This paper describes an initial prototype of the software infrastructure that provides this functionality, our plans for its evaluation and suggests possible extensions and improvements for future consideration.

John Downs, Beryl Plimmer

Awareness Information for Collaborative Information Gathering in Social Bookmarking Service

Abstract

The paper proposes a new mechanism to foster collaborative information gathering in social bookmarking service. The mechanism provides awareness information about other users by Browsed users function. This function presents information about who browsed into user’s bookmark library and whom the user browsed into his bookmark library. A case study has been conducted to evaluate the effect of this function on information gathering behaviors using an experimental social bookmarking site. The result shows the positive effect of awareness information on collaborative information gathering in social bookmarking service.

Piyanuch Klaisubun, Masahiro Honma, Phichit Kajondecha, Takashi Ishikawa

Towards the Integration of Social Media with Traditional Information Systems

Abstract

This paper was inspired by the authors’ personal experience of using social media systems over the last two years. During that time both authors have used a range of public, private and hosted social media systems for their professional activities and well as for personal use. They and other colleagues are convinced that a unified approach to social media systems can benefit the communications processes within their institution and its interaction with their important existing and potential clients, the students and alumni. After discussing the existing ad hoc use of social media the authors propose an action plan to achieve a cohesive approach to the more effective exploitation of social media.

Michael Rees, Peta Hopkins

Data in Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Social Network research relies on a variety of data-sources, depending on the problem-scenario and the questions, which the research is trying to answer or inform. In this paper, we analyze some of the data sources indexed by the sizes of these data-sets and relating them back to the research question, which the data-set is used for. In carrying out such an exercise, our goal is to assign a confidence metric to the data-set when tied to the field within the Social Network analysis that the data is used for. This will lay the foundation for benchmarking the results of any social networking study by means of concrete requirements for the data-sets used in research.

Anu Vaidyanathan, Malcolm Shore, Mark Billinghurst

Social Concepts Associated with Social Networking

Self-organization in Simulated Social Networks

Abstract

In many social contexts, organisation emerges through interactions between individuals, and not by design. Often these interactions occur in two different phases: a local phase in which closely related individuals interact, and a global phase, in which individuals interact more widely within a community. We show that this Dual Phase Evolution (DPE) is capable of producing common patterns of organization found in real social networks, including the spontaneous appearance of modular structures.

Tania G. Leishman, David G. Green, Sheree Driver

A Social Networking Approach to F/OSS Quality Assessment

Abstract

With the growing number of available Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) applications, choosing between them becomes increasingly difficult. The concept of “trust” in social networking has been successfully applied to facilitate choice in similar situations. We propose a social network-based approach to quality assessment and evaluation of F/OSS applications. The proposed system utilises the community formed around F/OSS projects to produce meaningful recommendations based on specific user preferences. We suggest that such an approach would overcome some of the difficulties complicating user choice by making useful suggestions and can fit seamlessly within the structure of the majority of F/OSS projects. The main focus of this work is on the end users of free and open source software and not on the developers of the software. The social network-based approach would apply differently to these different user classes.

Anas Tawileh, Omer Rana, Steve McIntosh

Eliciting Expectations for Monitoring Social Interactions

Abstract

The use of computers to mediate social interactions (e.g. blogs, chatting, facebook, second life) creates the possibility of providing software to support social awareness in a range of ways. In this paper we focus on monitoring expectations and consider how a user who is not a programmer or logician might specify expectations to be monitored. We propose a novel approach where the user provides a collection of scenarios, and then candidate formulae are induced from the scenarios. The approach is applied to examples and appears to be promising.

Michael Winikoff, Stephen Cranefield

Conference Summary

Computer-Mediated Social Networking - An Executive Summary of the Conference and the Future Research Directions

Abstract

In June 2008, the International Conference on Computer Mediated Social Networking (ICCMSN) was held in Dunedin, New Zealand. The aim of this conference was to explore current issues surrounding computer mediated social networks. This report presents an executive summary of technologies and the research issues identified during the course of the ICCMSN conference.

Melanie Middlemiss

Backmatter

Titel: Computer-Mediated Social Networking
herausgegeben von: Maryam Purvis
Bastin Tony Roy Savarimuthu
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-642-02276-0
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02275-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02276-0