Student: Thomas Harder
Instructor: Prof. Richard Gazan
Course: ICS 691 – Social Computing
Session 2: Assignment 1: Part 2

Introduction
All this talk about how people behave on websites really made me curious about why someone would actually spend so much time on them. And I wanted to know from an insider why people would participate in something like Second Life, and how a company like Second Life would handle antisocial behavior. So, I went online and asked. I joined Second Life and after several days, I made a contact with Beverly Montegomery.

The avatar to the right of me, in the green dress is Ms. Montgomery. I am the guy in the black shirt. Ms. Montegomery is a Second Life officer and a volunteer for the NCI organization. She gives classes for Newbies, mostly in the basiscs of how to modify the avatar and what to see and things to do with in Second Life. Her introduction to Second Life was from her son, who showed her how to login, helped her create an avatar, took her to an NCI starting place and then promptly left her there to find her own way. This was two years ago and she in now fully immersed in Second Life. Ms. Montegomery's take on the Second Life experience was that individuals come to Second Life to see what it is like and then stay for the friendships and for a feeling of importance.

Friends and a Feeling of Importance
I found this to be true with my experience, most of the people were friendly and very helpful, and I was able to make friends very quickly. I believe the feeling of importance aspect is created through 3 avenues 1) just the act of making friends 2)Volunteering to help newbies enjoy the game and become acclimatized, like Ms. Montegomery and 3)Creating Objects. The first 2 being obvoius I will focus a little on 3rd item Creating objects. Second Life promotes individuals creativity through the use of a monteary system, and by providing the tools to create and modify object in the world. Additionally there are free tutorials, on how to create these tools and how to sell them within Second Life. This has lead to the creation of many virtual cottage industries. This simple feature allows residents to become emotionally attached to the game, by creating, and seeing that others value the objects that they can create. Many of the individuals became involved in Photoshop and scripting just because of their involvement in Second Life.

My Cube! It says touch when I touch it. And Ouch wherever anyone collides with it.

Some of the Resident's Art!

Rules of Conduct
Second Life has had its share of antisocial behaviour. While they have a Terms of Service agreement, this contract is not always adhered to, and in these cases Second Life can ban users accounts. Ms. Montegomery admitted that there was little to stop such banned users form rejoining and personlly knew that several users had been banned 4 or more.In addition to the Conduct By Users of Second Life (see below) rules found in the TOS, an island or sim can impose additional conduct rules, which users must agree to prior to being able to access it.

Here is a small part of the TOS.

CONDUCT BY USERS OF SECOND LIFE
4.1 You agree to abide by certain rules of conduct, including the Community Standards and other rules prohibiting illegal and other practices that Linden Lab deems harmful.
You agree to read and comply with the Community Standards posted on the Websites, (for users 18 years of age and older, at http://secondlife.com/corporate/cs.php; and for users of the Teen Area, at http://teen.secondlife.com/footer/cs
In addition to abiding at all times by the Community Standards, you agree that you shall not: (i) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that infringes or violates any third party rights; (ii) impersonate any person or entity without their consent, including, but not limited to, a Linden Lab employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; (iii) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that violates any law or regulation; (iv) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content as determined by Linden Lab at its sole discretion that is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, causes tort, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (v) take any actions or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that contains any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (vi) take any action or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Content that would violate any right or duty under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); (vii) upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, or promotional materials, that are in the nature of "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation that Linden Lab considers in its sole discretion to be of such nature; (viii) interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service; (ix) attempt to gain access to any other user's Account or password; or (x) "stalk", abuse or attempt to abuse, or otherwise harass another user. Any violation by you of the terms of the foregoing sentence may result in immediate and permanent suspension or cancellation of your Account. You agree that Linden Lab may take whatever steps it deems necessary to abridge, or prevent behavior of any sort on the Service in its sole discretion, without notice to you.

Tools and New Uses
What made my question session with Ms. Montgomery different is that she was carrying on several conversations at once. There was a group chat for the question and answer session, and she was carrying on an IM session just with me, and I am sure several other conversations too. This got me to thinking about how else these tools could be used in more "useful" ways. I decided that it would be quite possible to hold a business team meeting in Second Life. The program supports sound, and could support a normal conversation. There is the ability to have group chat and individual IM, for private side conversation. The software also has a blogging tool. And since it has its own scripting language it could be modified and extended for additional uses.

Summary
In summary Second Life is a fascinating, and different type of Social Networking Site then Facebook and MySpace. I found the content more appealing then Facebook and MySpace; where I very quickly became tired of staring at pictures and reading static text. I found it very easy to make friends, specifically because I was not starring at a person. Second Life is filled with conversation starters, imagine walking up to a 3D tiger avatar, that moves and growls, how did the person get it? Some of these are bought, but many things are created by players, and these people are interesting to talk to. For the more quiet types, the group chat allows you to lurk in the background, and doesn't interfere with the natural flow of conversation by the participants.
Check out the avatar on the left. I am still not sure what it is, but it looks fierce.

So, as nonacademic as it sounds, I think I found my SNS of choice. Now I have to go, I want to work on my cube. I want to make it make a whoopie cushion sound when I sit on it!

Sesson 2 Assignment 1 - 7 Articles and My Free Response

Student: Thomas Harder

Instructor: Prof. Richard Gazan

Course: ICS 691 – Social Computing

Session 2: Assignment 1:

1) A free-response section with your overall reactions to the readings. Not just "I thought this or that was interesting" (which I of course hope you do), but point out specific connections or mismatches between concepts in the readings, examples and/or counterexamples from your research or experience, and a question raised by the readings that for you remains unanswered.

7 Articles and My Free Response
These weeks the reading started to give a more in-depth look at how individuals use Internet SNS and asks the questions; Can SNS address the social interactivity needs of humans? How? To William Galston, in the paper “Does the Internet Strengthen Community?” (Galston 1999), the answer depends on how well the SNS balances the conflicting desires of autonomy and connection. To begin with Galston uses Thomas Bender’s definition of a community and then looks at how the SNS will support the four main characteristics of Limited Membership, Shared Norms, Affective Ties and Mutual Obligation. In conclusion Mr. Galston summarizes that online groups can help individuals but should not be allowed to replace true communities. While I mostly agree with the spirit of Mr. Galston’s article, I still dislike the position that choice and community are competitors and that an individual can only seek one at the expense of the other. I believe that the argument is in how you perceive the little village in Portugal. I believe that more of us in the industrialized world would stay in a little village, if we were ever given the chance. But nowdays, in the “global marketplace” who grows up in a little village?
The second article “Social responsibility and the Web: A Drama Unfolds” by Linton Weeks, highlights how the more things change the more man remains the same; incidentally this is also proof that evolution is unfounded. What amazed me was that for all everyone’s complaints they just didn’t seem flat out ask her if she was okay, or if the child was okay, or if there was anything anyone can do for her. Everyone would have saved themselves a lot of grief if they would have just done the sensible thing, actually cared about her and her child and just asked a simple question. And she should know better in this age of offensensitivity (Yes, I got this word from Bloom County, I hope you are old enough to remember this ), that she was going to get blasted for posting such an “off color” joke.
I didn’t really understand the level of effort that went into the third article. In summary, if you can’t do something it will stress you out, and this will lead to depression. I suppose this is obvious. But I have yet to hear of anyone killing themselves over the fact that they have a hard time finding something on the Internet. More than likely I think the level of stress the Internet causes is a blip on someone’s stress level. I don’t think the study did a real good job at removing life’s other stressors, which I think would have a greater impact on an individual. If one places ones ego on their ability to do everything well, they are very likely to be depressed.
I found that I could agree with the first sentence of the fourth article “Strategies for a Discontinuous Future” by Umair Hague (Hague 2006), that is “bloggers blog too much”. But the article took a turn to decipher the definitions of usefulness and creativity. The author state that “usefulness is the enemy of creativity” and this is flat out nonsense. The author gives no examples to prove his point and this, in my opinion, destroys the authors’ creditability immediately. I believe that usefulness and creativity if properly draw would be perpendicular.

This would give you 4 quadrants and is a more likely valid way of categorize things, into useful and creative items. There are many useful and highly creative things, and this leads me to believe that the author may be suffering from a stunted definition of creative.
The fifth article Albrechtslund, Anders “Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance.” ( Albercthslund 2008); highlighted the fact that whatever is put on the net, maybe on the net forever, and it might come back to haunt an individual. Because this information is “out there” it can be viewed by friends and family, or the government, snoops and criminals. I found this particularly true on all of the sites I viewed. Many sites have profiles that can be locked, but nevertheless this information is stored somewhere. Typically this type of data resides on in a database (Oracle or SQL Server) and this database could be hacked or mined. I posted another item that discusses a recent hacking of a database, and while the critical information was believed to be still secure, how could anyone believe that since the company was vulnerable to attack? Furthermore the company admitted that the information taken could be used in phishing attacks. Additionally the article stressed the concepts of hierarchical and lateral surveillance. The most interesting is lateral surveillance, that is peer-to-peer monitoring. People use this technique to “fit in”. The observe and mimic others speech and behavour in order to not appear to be the new guy.
“Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism” by Christine Rosen (Rosen 2007) was an interesting read. She used the d word, democratic. I am not sure I understand what is meant by calling this information democratized or democratic. In fact I looked up democratic and from the definitions I found no plausible interpretation. I strongly suggest that this word be dropped or better explained. I liked the major idea that connection has become big business, it has. And after spending 20 hours on Facebook, MySpace and Second Life, I liked her idea “of a conventional individuality, of distinctive sameness.” I found myself quickly bypassing anything that was, in my opinion, gaudy and overdone. It was exciting to see a simple or well crafted page, and I think this says a lot (positive) about the person who created it. I should point out that beauty is in the eye of the beholder so perhaps I was not the intended target of the gaudy and overdone. Ms. Rosen also stressed that the idea of a change in the meaning of the word “friendship”. This idea was pointed out in earlier articles, and Ms. Rosen takes a slightly different tack, however the message bears repeating that these new friendships are not likely to have the same depth as real life connections.
I didn’t get much out of Ryan Bigge’s article “The Cost of (Anti-) Social Networks: Identity, Agency and Neo-Luddites" (Bigge 2006). Perhaps it was written at too high a social science level, I am in Computer Science and have very little desire to change my profession. But I had a very hard time drawing a point to his article. The best I could come up with is that Mr. Biggie believes that SNS’s will evolve into haves and have not’s, that is you either have a site or you don’t, and that just seems so obvious to me, that it is barely worth mentioning.
Finally, I would like to know; what does Danah Boyd have against capital letters?

References
Galston, William A. (1999). Does the Internet Strengthen Community? In Elaine Ciulla Kamarck and Joseph S. Nye, Jr. (eds.), Democracy.com? Governance in a Networked World. Hollis, NH: Hollis Publishing Co.
http://www.puaf.umd.edu/IPPP/fall1999/internet_community.htm

Weeks, Linton (2009). Social Responsibility and the Web: A Drama Unfolds. 8 January 2009. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99094257

LaRose, R., M.S. Eastin and J. Gregg (2001). Reformulating the Internet Paradox: Social Cognitive Explanations of Internet Use and Depression. Journal of Online Behavior 1(2). http://www.behavior.net/JOB/v1n2/paradox.html

Hague, Umair (2006). Usefulness and The Banality of Business. (Bubblegeneration Strategy Lab blog post). http://www.bubblegeneration.com/2006/03/usefulness-and-banality-of-business.cfm

Albrechtslund, Anders (2008). Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance. First Monday 13(3). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2142/1949

Rosen, Christine (2007). Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism. The New Atlantis 17, 15-31. http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/virtual-friendship-and-the-new-narcissism

Bigge, Ryan (2006). The Cost of (Anti-) Social Networks: Identity, Agency and Neo-Luddites" First Monday 11(12). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1421/1339

Online Community Software

Yes, Ma'am and Yes Sir,

Now you can create your own online community!.

http://www.yourmembership.com/?s=ymyh

http://www.leveragesoftware.com/index.html

Regards, Tom

Do social websites use databases?

This is an interesting attack on the database of Monster. Com. Probably not the pinacle of social networking software, but it uses the same technologies.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090127/wl_uk_afp/britaincomputercrime;_ylt=AlgibDo0VZoXOPltwMeIVd5vaA8F

Notice while the information stole wasn't necessary critical, it could still be used for other types of attacks. The article reference phishing attacks. Which is a form of social engineering.

Reformulating the Internet Paradox.

Reformulating the Internet Paradox
Great paper to fall to sleep too. I needed to try to read it 3 times to get through it. I suppose the
summation is that the less you know about something the more stress it causes you and the more it will increase your chances of feeling depressed. This is probably an accurate statement. But I find it hard to believe that this is true in isolation about the internet, that is if there is only one thing causing you stress and that is the internet. I would find it more plausible if this was a review of first marriages, or first children. But internet use?

Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism.
I liked this article. I thought it was well written and distinctly sarcastic., but true. Unless you are using these sites to accomplish something, they have become the new TV. People while away the hours creating false and well marketed personalities to attract users they have no intention of ever meeting., trading real and fulfilling relationships for public friendship. Yes, this does sound like youth culture, I think I am getting a zitt just writing this. But I loved it when I found out Obama and Clinton had facebook's.

Random blogging
Best blog I have seen so far was one called Max's World. Just a father's pictures of his baby. Photo's were professional. Color and arrangement of photo's was superb. Just beautiful, best use of cyberspace, I have ever seen. I was tempted to post but didn't won't to ruin the sense of intimacy. If I can ever find it again I will let you all know.

1/22/09 Strgs for a discontinuous future.

I found this a less then brilliant article, its redeeming feature, was the posts that were attached, and only because the posts dramatize the author's main point, and the clear differences between the authors supporters and detractors.

The problem with the writers logic is that he equates utility and the ability to conceptualize and increase utility and productivity with a lack of creativity. I would suggest that being able to orchestrate utility and mass productivity is really a creativity in its own right. I disagree with a major premise "the notion that everything must be useful". First anyone who studies logic and human nature understands that it is not often when "everything" is ever any one thing. For example, pet rocks, and hiphop and basketball. How about this take, would the author of the article think that no creativity existed in the extremely useful light bulb? How about Einstein and Bell, anyone care to call them less then creative geniuses? How much creativity is found in the concept and ability to implement the production line (Thank You, Henry Ford, for bringing the car to the masses. I believe my quality of life was much improved, as well as the workers in the orginal factories.). I would bet if we could go back in time we would find many people who first ate a consistent quality meal, across an entire county at a fair price, who would think McDonalds was a stroke of creative genius as well as extremely useful. And how about Bill Gates "licencing software", absolutely creative genius, and IBM bought it! Much better then a Warhal painting, think how many people did Gates make wealthy on that? How many people were able to buy cars, fund retirements, send their kids to college, pay mortgages? How much GPD did he bring into a country hemorraging cash by buying cheap imports? I think that perhaps Umair needs to really reconsider his definition of creativity, he may find it somewhat narrow and lacking.

Interesting enough I could agree with the original premise that bloggers blog too much. Especially if they blog this type of ill thought out drivel. Perhaps they should spend more time reading and thinking, then posting.

1/21/09 - First Session 2 Articles

Well, in the first articles "Does the Internet Strengthen Community?", I think the appropriate answer is that it depends. I don't buy the notion that Choice and Community are inversely proportional. The decision by individuals to put their own needs above others is a choice, just as to put others before themselves is a choice. I think the breakdown in Community is directly proportional to the breakdown of traditional Christian values and the rise of a consumer culture that stresses (sells) putting oneself first. Please note I am not making judgements, I am not saying one set of values is better then other just that the traditional culture is breaking down and another is rising in its place.

I liked the article "Social Responsiblity And the Web: A Drama Unfolds". The article reminded me of a quote "Don't write down on paper what you wouldn't want to read in the paper". The same applies here. But this article does let me get "up on my soapbox" against "offended people". The problem is that it violates the rights of the offender, that is guilty until proven innocent. Anyone with an AS degree has learned about the "Barriers to Communication". So why do we immediately assume that when someone cries "They offended me", that this person has actually been offended, maybe they just don't understand what the offender said. Maybe, and I know this is a strech for most, the offended person misunderstood. And the easiest way to resolve this is to just ask - "Did you mean to offend me?". In this article we see that such simple logic eludes the masses. How many responded negatively? How many felt "offended"? How many called the police? But not one asked her how she felt. Not one asked her if she was joking, not one exercised (un)common sense. What does this say about the quality of internet "communication"? In fact was there really any communication (look up the definition of the word)? Well enough of my soapbox. TTFN