The Pivotality of Web 2.0 in social lives

The pivotality of Web 2.0 in the social lives of the iGeneration Maz Hardey 2007 Girly Geek The University of York

‘ It’s not about being poked and prodded, it’s about exposing more surface area for others to connect with’ Johnnie Moore More Space (forthcoming 2007)

More Surface Areas?…

In the beginning…

Going Live: The new global village

‘… new ability to experience almost instantly the effects of our actions on a global scale’

( Symes responding to Marshall McLuhan 1995 )

The Concept of Community ‘ Flexible’ communities Artifice of divisions - networks; online/offline; ‘real' / ‘virtual’ Variation based on ‘ideal-type’

Communication builds your social network: people you interact with on the web, people you IM, people you e-mail, people you call on your mobile... Dewey (2007) from Read/Write Web

Within the social net

New informed spaces

Communities of people

Shares: interests and activities

Services: chat, messaging, email, video, voicechat, file sharing, tagging, IM, blogging, searching, discussion groups…

Extreme connectedness

Reachability Reach/ Broadcast One-on-one/ Dialogue SNS Phone text IM Immediate/ Concise Newspaper blog Mail email Interval/ Lengthy

Social actions…

Interpretational…

‘ I can see my friends’ all in one place, their latest status reports, their latest new friends, groups, notes, photos. How cool is that! and completely addictive. So your online, but it feels so much more personal!’ Amanda

Open lives

‘ Web 2.0 is a window on my own world’

Caryn

Gone through Turkle’s screen and back out again

It’s about being part of something. I know what is going on in my friends lives and like-wise. A poke, post or tag doesn’t exactly take much effort on my part and it means much more than just a passing acknowledgement. I feel closer and a part of my friends lives. Dominic

Impression expressions

Broadcast

Informative

Built on expectations

‘ Reward’ values

Automatic and habitual

Ultimately controlled

Intentional

A participatory social arena Absence of social cues and etiquette Rituals Collaboration Multiple shared ‘friendships’

‘Friends’?

Friend n. 1. Person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. 2. Person whom one knows; an acquaintance. 3. Person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade. A person counted toward a ‘friend’ total on a social networking site.

‘ Its like when you used to walk down the corridor at school and you’d say ‘hi’ and nod your head to people you recognise as you cruise on by. Facebook is that kind of cruising, only your able to see what people are up to at the same time too!’ Brian

Visualising the social Intimate sharing / presence Everyday stuff Mundane Creating presence in other peoples lives

‘… the facebook wheel is totally impressive! I like the way it groups people together… (as) if it has been watching you for years and knows everything about you.’

Mark

Self-presentation; it’s all about interaction and meaning(s)

‘ I’m devoted to making sure that my profile is up-to-date’ Fern

Identity manipulation

Context dependent

Self-presentation ‘standards’

Moral obligation

Judgement and accountability

‘Real world’ rules

Trust : identity knowledge

A return to community ‘People construct community symbolically, making it a resource and a repository of meaning, and a referent of their identity’ (Cohen 1993: 118)

Isn't it like a medieval village? Lots of community based friendships with only a small number serving an emotional need. Comment from The Guardian 27th August

Now I know where my friends are going to be and what they are doing… I guess it’s one of the ways that we hang out with each other. Claire

Blurring the ‘every -moment’ Everything has become social Ralph

To conclude Complex links ‘ Of the moment’ - Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube Fluidity - not confined to only ‘Web 2.0’ Future - convergence; links and user id’s

Mediation of social relations Demands of ‘always on’ Requires new emergent forms of social practices cf Goffman Problem of how to ‘disconnect/switch off’ - networks and relationships Web 2.0 - pivotal to iGeneration sociability and social ‘presence(s)’

My Website: http://mazphd.googlepages.com/mazhardey'swebsite Blogs: http://properfacebooketiquette.blogspot.com/ http://web2mediatalk.blogspot.com/ http://girlygeekdom.blogspot.com/

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