2006.04.20

presentations today!

mirje

openBC.com website
social network, business-oriented
small world principle, people are all interconnected
follow paths to how you're connected to a particular person

public profile, guestbook
business + personal interests

- ability to edit / delete your guestbook
remove extraneous / unwanted external messages

multi-lingual, international community and accessibility
people tend to be truthful, serious
business behaviour, professional tendency
conservative atmosphere helps enforce the community standard

+ understanding of networks
how are you connected to someone, who are the intermediate ppl
bridging the connections

structural holes - (writings by burt)
important person, being a bridge connecting two otherwise disparate networks
want to increase value of bridge by discerning what to reveal publicly about who they know -- not necessarily best interest to list every acquaintance

want to play an important role of bridging these holes
what parts to omit?

features: introduce people to people, hide/show contacts

how do you manage to seek connections with distant ones
perception vs. reality - one more degree can change lots (contact --> stranger)

what happens when you have different pieces of information?
available info drastically changes the experience and understanding

ex. guy with 1000 contacts but keeps the list private

for business, easier to articulate why you want to know someone
for more social space, you want to know about someone for more subtle reasons

personal portrayal is more loosely defined on myspace, etc
business - keeping people honest, truthful

jesse

myth the game
multiplayer, many short games
chat interface in and out of games
record/history is public
customizable names / handles
where cheating is possible

bungie.net

*unintentional bug*
only game host can cheat (drop if losing) - doesnt negatively affect rank
other players stand to lose rank or have a disappointing game
reliably recognizing cheaters allows players to avoid these games

costly for high ranks
- time consuming to cheat
- skill and time to beat newbies
- higher skill and time to beat good players
public displayed rank
- encourage higher rank, competitive

care about: skill, and cheat-factor (if they're good, and good to play with)

new players may not know about cheating, may be deceived by a cheater's signal of a high rank

'orders' have reputation, affiliated groups
conventional signal, high cost to fake (the order enforces membership)
want to gain approval of fellow order members

order vs official rank
order
- no signaling value to newbies
- high reliability to regulars
rank
- high reliability to newbies
- lower reliability to regulars
subtly expensive suit vs. huge bling? obvious vs insinuated signal.
target who you're signaling to

gifts
- host can drop off if another member has problems
- good sportsmanship, forfeit, high cost to giver

official signaling system (rank) weak
better underground signaling system (order) evolves

magician will intentionally do some things wrong, to dismiss the fact that you're cheating all the time; get esteem by mistaking ever so often

may be helpful to see how much time a person has invested in playing
how much can you change/edit on your profile?

orkan

alternative reality gaming (ARG)

as interactive narrative
- scavenger hunts organised around websites, locations, and discussion forums
- diff kind of social gaming
- subscription-based game, designed to game on- and off-line
- real-time, pace is designed
- culture of conspiracy and deception
- everything is about deception, figuring out if it's a puzzle, solving, clues

majestic and beast are two main games
highly intrusive game with disclamier, 'the game that plays you'

web communities
cloudmakers.com, unfiction.org
help economy, gifts, support, puzzle archives, quick start
collective knowledge, collaborative vs. competition
support sites creating their own games
game designers can manipulate as well in these sites
- can you trust this person? a fellow gamer? game designer who wants to plant erroneous clues?

deception!
(1) game itself, (2) competitive players giving wrong answers, (3) sneaky game designers

revealing of puppetmaster, careful to keep secrets secret

cloudmakers - newbies learn the jargon, glossary necessity
official discussion vs speculation vs rumors - everything has potential of deception
tia hemlen case - support another person's family - real news story
means for forming communities (both game and real)

game designers can dynamically change the game in real-time
how to improve?
- scavenger hunt through websites, scene on A.I. dvd, etc.
- foster something in the applet / site to foster social interaction
- but better to have ad-hoc support off-site communities?

communities emerges in response to the games
games dont rely on the fact that you need a community
gamers felt the need to collaborate

balance between collaboration and solving the prob for everyone

ilovebees.com
http://www.turbulence.org/blog/archives/000398.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/08/22/augmented_reality_ha.html
ambiguous between what's real and whats not real - pushing acceptability

ID/entity
sandy stone, UT austin
speaker on identity, persona, performance artist
poseur came out to give her talk, sandy posed as a questioning heckler in audience
borders of theatricality, identity, roles

game - adopt lifestyle of important person, get a lot of phone calls / attention

are clues time-sensitive?

jeff

knot bio list
http://weddings.theknot.com/talk/talk.aspx
"the knot" community bios
people put ideas / photos / wedding / on page
text, photos, etc., descriptive

knotties have their own lingo, language, acronyms
advice, suggestions, knowledge, slightly imply signaling in response
"what cake to get?" "well, i had a fantastic cake" (!)

community - omg you look great!
competition, rivalry - more catty responses
status in taking ideas from others

'real' weddings (best weddings featured)
highlighted weddings are sponsored by vendors, not community sponsored

no vendor reputation system
negative posts about vendors deleted
no bio ratings
no history of posts per bio
no quality rating for posters (only for threads)

3rd party signaling support
magnificientbliss - http://bios.magnificentbliss.com/
'best bios', organization
expressive handles/username (princess, university, job)

only people who care about wedding planning are the ones who are doing it too

also about information, knowledge, and reputation
status for purely for own sake
want recognition for all the effort
signling in artificial world - tight community for real-world event

2006.04.13

seth

(personal) communication
hidden costs of lower costs
ways to communicate: care packages, letters, IMs, phones
display communications you've received to manage your reputation
costs with sending something (in decreasing cost):
care package: time to get materials, money and effort to send it, gift economy
handwritten letter: time to get materials, stamp, postal, paper/pen, thoughtfulness for each participant
postcards: less time to write, less-cost version of handwritten letter
calling: investment of real-time, invest in relationship, daytime vs nighttime minutes
email: asynchronous, almost no-cost
IM: low cost, time cost (synchronous), multi-task
IM -- same formality, low content, 'how are you' kind of thing
token gesture of 'hello' to maintain contact

signals:
care package - if you know the sender, it's fine (mom).
if you don't know sender, wooer / secret admirer.
letter - signals the letter's intent. "dear" "love" "hi" "sincerely"
typos, kind of paper, handwriting, packaging, postmark, doodles
postcard - (a) im on vacation (b) thinking of you (c) shorter message, how much they allocate space
phonecalls - long-distance, time of day
email: from address (a premium email address), to address (mailing list?)
IM: away messages, time of idleness, what message program they are using

reputation:
care package - seth's mom cares and can bake
letters - person who keeps up communication consistently is a good friend, reliable if it's someone you know
imitations - mass mailing, fake handwriting, post-it notes, real stamps, etc
phonecalls - popularity, unanswered calls
emails - spam, identity rep of the sender depending of content, black/white list, email address (@mit vs @yahoo)

conclusions:
many more connections that last longer
cost: weaker connections
ability to keep in touch with more people
cost: efficiency trumps individuality connection
messages are delivered more quickly, regardless of location
cost: creativity stifled, 'christmas newsletters'

think about: cue vs signal
a signal is deliberate

reputation - community / group

postcards - editing , aesthetic change, artistry on the postcard
signal on how you construct or design the postcard

cost: a letter from someone who never writes letter vs. a letter from someone who writes ten letters a day
signal of relative resource - absolute or relative signal

letter is more focus on the message, the communication
a postcard is an object; between a gift and a message; a mini-gift

new way to email?
oldfashion: typewriter (business) vs. handwritten (personal)
new: email (business) vs. ?
- trace of you of a physical person, a person physically wrote it
ref: fuzzmail (fuzzmail.org)

malte

housing bulletin board of the mit european club (online message boards)
simple system
market for people - roommates for housing
minimalist: text-based (no photos), rely on subject, date, sender
cross-cultural element, international students who look for housing in US

two parties:
- students looking for housing
- landlords/students looking for tenants

qualities:
- technical facts (qualities of the room: price, location, room, details)
- personal characteristics
- reliability of a tenant (can pay rent)
- suitability as a community member (can get along)

signals + cues:
"2 young professionals looking for quiet 2BR or 3BR (cambridge)"
- the subject line covers all the bases
- who they are, and who they're looking for
"ame and katharina"
- northern european names, background

reliability + reputation:
jose's letter (seeking)
- what are signals and cues?
- signal a seriousness, or formality to make sure it's clear in english
- reliability? no reputation system / history in this housing system
- spelling mistakes - not meticulous? or just an honest mistake with 2nd language?
specific signals
- scholarships
- associated email addresses
assessment signals
- international calls
gift culture?

offer postings:
location (detail vs vague description)
- "14-min walk"
- is vagueness for poster's safety, or to shield a bad location?
condition - "nice", "wonderful"

social practices:
site intro
learning through experience
- conventions of abbreviations and wroding
- trial and error, change posting as time passes

this bulletin board - what is the feedback? hard to tell sometimes
versus craigslist - more sense of deception

interesting to interview people on what they thought a house was like, and then what it really was
new orleans, ppl looking for people/house, and the subject lines were at first were uninformative ("looking for my uncle")
eventually, people need to make their subject lines super-detailed (specific names / location)
community learning over time

pallavi

car lovers websites
jabbasworld.net/portal.php
ferrarichat.com/forum/index.php

jabbas:
general car-loving community, diverse
talk about cars
signal about their lifestyle
fun, enjoy cars
signal knowledge they have
post pix to show their involvement and expertise in cars, either their own or others on street / in shows
- a lot to show off their skills, not that super-expert in cars but devoted to appreciation, photographing a lot of cars

ferrari:
narrow ferrari-loving community
more specific, want to talk about ferrari
owners, serious buyers, are there to learn
signal lifestyle (owning multiple ferraris, etc)
signal knowledge, expertise
dishonest people are almost instantly identified
very very specific and earnest experts, serious buyers, almost professional knowledge, fervent
- people get together for face-to-face meetings, have events
- give a lot to the community

reliability in jabbas:
- your car: put your keys and service manual on the hood to signal it's your car
- lots of rules, moderation
- first post has a series of rules
- maintained
costs - addictive, costly in time; go to events, car shows, scoping on streets
benefits - making friends, community, learning knowledge
gifts - pooling money + gifting the moderators; giving knowledge by experts to community

reliability in ferrari:
- you test someone's knowledge
- some people spend lots of energy to unearth deception / lies
cost - time
gifts - knowledge

jabbas: more of a community - but you want to show special cars, not generic ones; bound by an interest in cars
- level of coolness, identity equates to your car, want something extraordinary, better
ferrari: more of a resource, insane + rich car enthusiasts

alea

wrongplanet.net community
support for those with asperger's syndrome, autism
- online help with offline communication
"i have a problem? what should i do?"

resources: articles, links, blogs
relationship section - forums begin with description, segue into conversation
finding a match - signaling 'who i am'

signal, and interpretation (is he sarcastic?)
takes away signals in face-to-face, speeches, tonalities
text taken as text

the community is open to all
good place for ppl with issues with communication
not beneficial for people to be deceptive
can see the history of people, how many notes they've contributed

'wrong planet' - name connotates that people alienated from the 'real' world
people are feeling alienated, upset, angry, wanting support
the rest of the world is rah-rah, but we want to be a community that feels right in opposition to the 'right' planet
not necessarily wanting to assimilate - associate with the everyday world
make it unappealing to 'outsiders' to the community, a subculture

deception

jeff: courtroom situation
defending yourself, more about law strategy
how much do you believe what you are saying, truth or lies?
doubt, guilt,
duty to defend your defendent vs. absolute truth
balancing conflicting views of not liking your defendent but believing in one's right to a proper defense

on bullshit: spin
'democracy is messy'
statement is related / not-related to facts?
weird deception - it shifts the discussion
using mass media to say there is limited
'democracy' - inarguably good (?)
additional unstated things - is a messy democracy better than a neat dictatorship?
- an avoidance of discussing truth

how do topics move?
how to people steer the discsussion to and from a certain focus?
how directly are things answered?

what is the truth?

depaulo - ubiquity of 'everyday lying', social smoothing
social truth versus internal truthful state
'how are you' ' fine' <-- really?

next week: conversation!

2006.04.06

welcome back to class!

next coming weeks:
student presentations
deception - ethics and motivations
faces

gifts - complex issue!

diff kinds (distinguish)
1. personal gifts between two people ("presents")
inefficient, indicate knowledge of the relationship
2. public gifts - community, charity ("gifts")

presents

are wishlists a problem?
publicly known - not exactly risky to fulfill something proclaimed
not something special, public list
raising the bar: more costly to get something that indicates knowledge of the friend, given that a lot of the knowledge is already public
efficient
buy something different, a surprise, not directly claimed on the list

if you have a wishlist and dont get what's on it - what is the receiver's response?
are they happy to get something they 'requested', or could be possibly pleasantly surprised?

economics of gifts is a bit irrational
gifts are difference from commerce
importance of reciprocity (back-and-forth giving)

chinese village: important to return gifts back and forth
lot of quantity of gifts
if you stop gifting, strong signal that you dont want to continue the relationship

gift as object vs. signal to represent the relationship

things in wishlist have a range
givers have to figure out which of those items is appropriate to give ($2 pen vs $500 stereo)

commercial transaction - 'fair/even' and reciprocal exchange (the people themselves are irrelevant)
gifts - more about the message meaning on the relationship
*the exchange is about defining, or changing, the social relationship between the giver and the receiver*

thoughts on wishlists on dating sites?

pallavi: dating sites are mostly superficial, the gifting is another 'checkbox' or option to perform, removes the personal essence
orkan: however, add more cost
jeevan: indicating knowledge of a person, hard to do on dating site because (at first) you dont know that much about them except what's on there already.
lower the amount of spurious first contacts.
receive gift of chocolates - is it because they like me? or if they have the money to do so? if gifts are not monetary-based (email, poem, drawing), signal of personal effort.

some gifts are safer or riskier than others. flowers and chocolates? more a signal of a 'start' but i want to get to know you better. spend a little bit of resource. signaling establishing relationship without making a huge personal statement.

virtual gifts.
mirja: ecards and stuff can reveal the taste / aesthetics / style of the sender. access the 'quality' of the gift.

how do you mediate space between individuals?

write something about themselves -- music they like, movies they like
it's not an explicit wishlist, and not about the expense, but more about 'how well are you listening' and understanding me

dating site can mediate the mailing / posting address

russian bride sites: click to send chocolate! or flowers!

tying together a community
gifts starting a chain of reciprocity
"bad gifts" -- from people that you dont want that type of relationship with

frictionless commerce - no effort for social interaction (politeness, awkward)
use technology to get rid of all friction? smooth, easy transaction
efficiency != gift giving

dating sites ... move toward frictionless dating

how to prevent exploitation - to just get what you want

*culture of reciprocity*

interesting - a dating site around fundraising
instead of a personal gift, more a charitable donation in their name
signals are the causes you're interested in, happy to do in their name

seth: put a mixtape or playlist together, exchange discussion about music knowledge and taste; miss the physicality of analog tapes (time investment)

mixtapes: a good gift, tells a bit about you, them, the relationship ('our song'), stuff they like, stuff you think they would like, expressive, lots of effort

gift wrapping - the idea of opening/ revealing / ripping / presentation

japan - presentation is paramount to the actual object
more an abstraction of a present - more the idea/thought/wrapping

money as a gift?
the physicality of paper - cash -

gifts in open source communities.
aaron: not exactly clear who the recipient is.
online - who is that out there? depends on the individual.
expectations of returns? if you dont get what you expect, if it's not worth the time, drop out of the project.
orkan: muliple levels of benefit - public good, donation, sharing, copies of your work.
jeevan: in charity - a gift is given and that's it. open-source, more of a personal investment.

charity - gifts are always in flux, and also it's bout who's there to the benefit
competing for status, how fancy you are, what trendy causes. benefits are context of 'doing good', legitate means for showing off being fancy.

conspicious consumption
veblen: wives are the proxies to show status (her fancy display of clothing indicates the status of her husband)

charity - being part of an elite. cost to be part of the community.
open-source - cost for time / effort to being social in this community

new yorker article
this guy wanted to be in this community, wanted to promise lots of
wanted recognition for his gifts

movie stars will participant in community theatre

giving money to a charity - not that ambiguous about who's the direct beneficiary for particular benefits
a performance - ambiguous -- performer or audience? bad or good quality? saving face / being polite / showing talent?

how to give credit where it's due? not just the people at the front of the line. recognition.

gifts (and other things): systems are not so much straightforward
metaphors - important on how you design or critique a system
when you move into virtual world - enabling something to happen (button to click versus a more costly method)

presentations:

jeevan - optionstudio
online art exchange with virtual currency (in 'buraks')
profile: transaction history, tags, list of contacts
posit: artwork functions (in part) to signal the status of its creator
how do artists learn of their status?
- verbal feedback
- awards, favours
- money
non linguistic feedback? currency.
public knowledge - how much each person has
relative wealth - spend your last $10 buraks on something
how to access artist status through currency
indication of number? population growth of users (sub-cultures of taste)?
co-located offline/online feedback
signaling: receiver pays the cost of being involved with an artist / art
quality: both monetary value + provenance (history of buyers)
tension art world - real world, art is hung in your home, public association, cost in living with it.
biased toward the creative types.

next week: seth + more presentations.