ambient intimacy
leisa reichelt
disambiguity.com
Ambient Intimacy
Leisa Reichelt | Disambiguity.com
Future of Web Apps |October 2007

twitter, flickr, facebook,
myspace, lastFM, dopplr,
upcoming, skype status, IM
presence, RSS readers,
blog posts, comments...

phatic expressiveness
for virtual spaces

‘in linguistics, a phatic
expression is one
whose only function is
to perform a social task’

‘continual partial friendship’
david weinberger, joho the blog

‘it’s not about being
poked and prodded, it’s
about exposing more
surface area for others
to connect with’
Johnnie Moore

it’s a love/hate thing

1. anticipated reciprocity
2. reputation
3. sense of efficacy
4. identification with a group.
Peter Kollack ‘The Economies of Online Participation’ via Tom Coates

non-zero sum games
increase the rewards for all
those who commit to
participate in the exchange
over a long period
Robert Wright: Non-Zero

design to support
ambient intimacy

1. keep it light weight
2. stay out of the way
3. open your API
4. portable social networks
5. use the periphery
6. allow for time-shifting

1. keep it light weight
2. stay out of the way
3. open your API
4. portable social networks
5. use the periphery
6. allow for time-shifting

thank you :)
leisa reichelt
leisa.reichelt@gmail.com
disambiguity.com
twitter: /leisa

Image Credits
• graphpaper.com/2007/03-15_sxsw-2007-twitter-social-cyborgs
• flickr.com/photos/andybudd/364745733
• flickr.com/photos/mo/22337757
• flickr.com/photos/carradine65/90084642
• flickr.com/photos/81887528@N00520045137
• flickr.com/photos/88433615@N00/346832371
• flickr.com/photos/nialkennedy/407135104
• flickr.com/photos/62361777@N00/475349203
• marcellomedia.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/hunde.jpg
• headrush.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/twittercurve.jpg
• flickr.com/photos/brandnewbrain/122276304
• and the rest are mine