1.Consider a problem that could be solved by a large group (as discussed in the reading), or one that you have been involved in solving. Discuss how technology could be designed to make this easier. Use the Vieweg, et al. article as a model – talk about the problem, what was done or would be done, and how technology would or could help.
Though not [necessarily] a real problem, I think it's very interesting to look at one of my favorite Facebook groups as an example of applying technology to solve a unique problem. The Facebook group is called “The hardest part of the zombie apocalypse will be pretending I'm not excited” and is a gathering point for over 60,000 people from zombie movie fans (me) to zombie role-players (definitely not me, I promise). The group has over 1300 discussion topics, and while many are socially oriented and unrelated to the “problem” at hand, a large number of the posts are intended to create a “knowledge” base, “survival” networks, and “news” updates. Though based off “fantasy”, I feel this group demonstrates a very complete use of social networking technology in a way to solve a problem.
Many posts in the discussion board or on the wall seek to create “news” updates on the progress of the the zombie apocalypse. Fan-fiction represents a significant portion of these updates, but it is very easy to see how a discussion topic or wall could easily turn into a forum for amateur first-hand news reports in the case of a widespread disaster. A forum like this would allow information from a wide variety of very distributed sources to be gathered in one location for the benefit of informing others as to the exact extent of the zombie menace. Psuedo-knowledge bases have also been created, again drawing on the wide variety of members to create a large collection of discussion posts ranging from “outdoors survival methods” to “what weapon is best.” It is understood that suggestions posted in these discussion topics are merely personal attempts to help, and that no guarantee can be provided on “Z-Day”. As such, information presented requires little verification, and trust is very high and mutually understood among members of the group. Finally, the most unique aspect of this group is its use of Facebook as a social networking tool to create “survival” networks. Because many members allow other group members to view their networks, or even their profiles, the group can use FB as a “survivor finder.” With access to a computer, this group could make it very easy to find nearby citizens also fighting for their lives in the widely spread out, panicked, dwindling population of human beings. The flexibility of information provided by Facebook, along with the strong geographical element of social networking tools provides a solid attempt at creating a z-day survivors tool.
Disclaimer: I intend no marginalization of, or parody of, either the Vieweg article, or the Virginia Tech shooting as it is presented through the lens of the Facebook group. I feel the group discusses above provides a unique use of many different aspects of Facebook and serves as a good example for technology use in the class blog.
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Interesting post. I am still a little confused as to the purpose behind the Facebook group. Also, why is trust so high, and why does information need no significant verification?
ReplyDeleteVieweg talks about social capital so how do members of your group demonstrate that?
Haha interesting. I see that you are trying to relate the "zombie apocalypse" to a possible actual disaster. However, I feel that trust in this case is irrelevant because there is little risk involved in this situation. The "knowledge" people post doesn't have to meet any standard of validity or credibility because none of it's true. Rather than relate this to a real-world disaster, I think it works better as its own sort of collaboration. For example, the group provides a workspace for people to develop a sort of subculture and engage in group creativity. It would be interesting what sort of norms and trends arise, because this started out essentially as a blank sheet.
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