Social interaction in new media communities

1. Introduc)on to
New Media
Lecture 2
Communica)on and
social interac)on
with computers
“All real living is mee.ng” (Buber, 1958)

2. Topics
• What is communica)on and the discourse.
Social interac)on.
• Ac)vity theory and mediators
• Interac)on modes and models. Human‐
machine interac)on.
• Networking and communi)es. Connec)vism.
• Communi)es of prac)ce. Iden)ty. Situated
cogni)on. Socially constructed knowledge.

3. Ques)ons to answer in the end
• How does a community serve as a “cultural
interface” to mediate communica)on with
computers?
• Think of the terms related with social
interac)on with new media. Draw a concept
map of social interac)on.

4. Media, message, meaning
• In communica)on, media (singular medium) are
the storage and transmission channels or tools
used to store and deliver informa)on or data.
• A message is an object of communica)on. It is a
vessel which provides informa)on.
• Meaning is a rela)onship between two sorts of
things: signs that represent informa)on and the
kinds of things they mean (intend, express or
signify) for the communicators.
The defini)ons of these concepts are a maRer of discussion in many studies, see semio)cs
and communica)on studies

5. A Communica)on Model
• Mechanis)c: transfer of messages from sender to receiver
• Shannon's (1948) A Mathema)cal Theory of Communica)on
Schema)c diagram of a general communica)on system
This model does not consider: a) how the media changes the message, b) how the
communicators interpret the meaning of the informa)on

6. A Communica)on Model
• Feedback plays an important role in interpre)ng the meanings
and con)nuing the communica)ve acts

7. A Communica)on Model
• Psychological: transfer of messages and feelings from sender
and their interpreta)on by the receiver
• Context of communica)on, the cultural background of the
communicators influences how the meaning is interpreted

8. Transporta)on as communica)on
• The term "communica)on" has had an
extensive use in connec)on with roads and
bridges, sea routes, rivers, and canals, even
before it became transformed into
"informa)on movement" in the electric age.
• Each form of transport not only carries, but
translates and transforms, the sender, the
receiver, and the message.
McLuhan: Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man (1964)

9. Media as translators
• Transla)on is a 'spelling‐out" of forms of
knowing.
• All media are ac)ve metaphors in their power to
translate experience into new forms.
– The spoken word was the first technology by which
man was able to let go of his environment in order to
grasp it in a new way. Words are complex systems of
metaphors and symbols that translate experience into
our uNered or outered senses. They are a technology
of explicitness. By means of transla.on of immediate
sense experience into vocal symbols the en.re world
can be evoked and retrieved at any instant.
McLuhan: Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man (1964)

10. Media as translators
• We can translate more and more of ourselves into
other forms of expression that exceed ourselves.
• With the new media, however, it is possible to store
and to translate everything; and, as for speed, that is
no problem.
• All media as extensions of ourselves serve to provide
new transforming vision and awareness.
• Having extended or translated our central nervous
system into the electromagne)c technology, it is but a
further stage to transfer our consciousness to the
computer world as well.
McLuhan: Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man (1964)

11. Money is a media for transla)ng
• Even today money is a language for transla)ng the work of the
farmer into the work of the barber, doctor, engineer, or plumber. As
a vast social metaphor, bridge, or translator, money ‐‐ like wri)ng ‐‐
speeds up exchange and )ghtens the bonds of interdependence in
any community.
• In the electric age the "job of work ' yields to dedica)on and
commitment, as in the tribe. Today informa)on gathering resumes
the inclusive concept of "culture," exactly as the primi)ve food‐
gatherer worked in complete equilibrium with his en)re
environment. Our quarry now, in this new nomadic and "work‐less
world, is knowledge and insight into the crea)ve processes of life
and society.
• Money begins to be less and less a means of storing or exchanging
work and skill. As work is replaced by the sheer movement of
informa)on, money as a store of work merges with the
informa)onal forms.
McLuhan: Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man (1964)

12. Clocks are media that transform tasks
and create new work
• Now that we live electrically in an instantaneous
world, space and )me interpenetrate each other
totally in a space‐)me world.
• Clocks are mechanical media that transform tasks
and create new work and wealth by accelera)ng
the pace of human associa)on. By coordina)ng
and accelera)ng human mee)ngs and goings‐
on, clocks increase the sheer quan)ty of human
exchange.
McLuhan: Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man (1964)

13. How we understand what is the
meaning of the messages?
• Each message is
expressed using certain
media types and its
specific sign systems.
• The sign is the whole
that results from the
associa.on of the
signifier with the
signified (Saussure,
1983)
Icons are signs that physically resemble
what they stands for.
Words are symbols that signify something
what they stand for.
Signifiers Signified object

14. Semiosis as the meaning genera)on
process

15. How media influences the meanings
• The simplified way of interpre)ng semio)c
processes is by claiming that there is a complete
mutual translability between signs from different
media systems and all the informa)on can be
transformed from one system to another without
any loss.
• For example: How is the message of music
transferrable to the the film or text format?
• Will mixing different media change the message
itself?

16. Dialogue act theory
• Luhmann (1992) dis)nguishes three concepts
related to communica)on:
– informa)on (something that is in the head of the
actor),
– uEerance (something what the actor spells out/writes)
and
– understanding the difference between informa)on and
uRerance (how the other actor interprets the
informa)on in uRerance). The laRer is dependent on
the other actor’s state of mind i.e. their inten)ons.
• Thus, effec)ve communica)on depends on
mutual understanding and grounding of each
other’s inten)ons during par)cipatory acts.
Same as
message?
Same as
meaning?
Same as
meaning?

17. Dialogue act theory
• The uRerances of communicators are
delivered as ‘dialogue acts’ during
communica)on (Traum, 2000).
• Clark and Schaefer (1989) dis)nguish two
types of individual acts: ‘autonomous acts’ are
those that an agent performs on his or her
own and ‘par)cipatory acts’ are performed as
parts of collec)ve acts.
Clark & Schaefer, 1989; Traum & Allen, 1994; Traum 2000

18. Dialogue act theory
• Most of par)cipatory acts begin with an ac)on
by A, the contributor. The process of
contribu)on divides conceptually into two
phases:
• i) ‘presenta)on phase’ when A presents
uRerance for B to consider and,
• ii) ‘acceptance phase’ when B accepts
uRerance by giving evidence that he believes
or understands what A means.
Clark & Schaefer, 1989; Traum & Allen, 1994; Traum 2000

19. Communica)on as scaffolding the
discourse
• The whole communica)on can be viewed as
the mutual and partly unconscious
‘scaffolding’, which invites communicators to
follow the implicit ground rules and develop
and test their own construc)ons of meaning
with others.
Rasmussen (2001) and Fernandez et al. (2001)

20. Discourse rules
• Traum and Allen (1994), and Traum (2000) have proposed
the communica)on model that is based on obliga)ons and
goals.
Pata et al., 2005

21. People create intersubjec)vity with
grounding acts
• Vygotski (1930/1971, 1978)
student
teacher
student
student
teacher
intersubjec)vity intersubjec)vity

22. Symbolic interac)onism
George Herbert Meade
• Social construc)vist (symbolic interac)onist):
interactants sharing and crea)ng meanings
• Meanings are derived from social interac)on and
modified through interpreta)on
• All objects hold a representa)ve or symbolic value.
• There is a difference between the social symbol and
the individual symbol. The social symbol is shared
while the individual meaning is achieved through
private thoughts and gestures of other humans.
• Robert T. Craig: communica)on is an ongoing process
that symbolically forms and re‐forms our personal
iden))es.”

23. Intersubjec)vity in cultural media)on
intersubjec)vity
Vygotski (1930/1971, 1978)
Individual interprets the meaning
Culture creates the shared symbol

24. Socially determined intersubjec)vity
Richard Alterman, 2005
External object (a kind of a door
knob)
Socially determined knowledge
(to open the door there should
be the door knob)
“Grounding” (my knowledge of
door knobs and how i can open
this par)cular door using this
knob)
Intersubjec)vity

25. Shared intersubjec)vity for interac)on
Richard Alterman, 2005
Intersubjec)vity
The socially accepted symbol will determine the range
(borders of) of shared intersubjec)vity.
People act relying on intersubjec)ve signs in the culture –
on social symbols.

26. A Communica)on Model
• A Ecological Model of the Communica)on
Process (Foulger, 2004)
• People invent and evolve languages and media
hRp://davis.foulger.info/papers/ecologicalModelOfCommunica)on.htm

27. Ac)vity theory and media)on
Media)on is central in common explana)ons of
communica)on and ac)vity models.
Media)on—all human experience is shaped by
the tools and sign systems we use (Vygotsky,
1978; Leontjev, 1975/78; Kuu), 1995).
s)mulus response
mediated act
(A) Vygotsky’s model of mediated act and (B) its common reformula)on.
hRp://pagi.wikidot.com/engestrom‐expansive‐learning

28. Ac)vity system – components that
mediate human ac)ons
The structure of a human ac)vity
system (Engeström, 1987, p. 78)
visualizes what are important
components in media)ng
mo)vated ac)on and meaning‐
making
hRp://pagi.wikidot.com/engestrom‐expansive‐learning
The object of ac)vity is intersubjec)ve, nego)able
and moving target, it is not reducible to conscious
short‐term goals.

29. Computers support the forma)on of
intersubjec)vity
Computer as a mediator: connects distributed people, ar)facts, tools, ac)ons in )me and space
Interac)on with the computer: enhancing, scaffolding, augmen)ng people
How does computer interface play ac)ve role in media)on?
How does cultural interface play ac)ve role in media)on?

30. Computer as a mediator: communica)on
mode in )me and space
Is computer interface ac)ve or passive mediator?

31. Computer a as mediator: parallel,
embedded or linked messages
Figure 3. Linked CMC
Ar)fact Discourse about the ar)fact
Suthers (2001). Collabora)ve Representa)ons: Suppor)ng Face to Face and Online Knowledge
building Discourse
Working in wiki or other
collabora)ve authoring
tools

32. Personal learning environment a as
mediator: distributed ac)ons with
distributed tools

33. Human‐machine interac)on
• A machine may have various (and mutually
exclusive) ways of behaving.
• Each behavior is defined by the machine’s
input, output, and states, as a func)on of
)me.
• And for each behavior, or mode, various types
of inputs (e.g., constraints or target‐values)
may be imposed either by the operator or by
the machine.

34. Human‐machine interac)on
Thinking of how humans interpret messages in communica)on, what might
the constraining factors in human‐machine interac)on be?

35. “cultural interface”
• “While opera)ons [like selec)on] are
embedded in soTware, they are not )ed to it.
They are employed no only within the
computer but also in the social world outside
it. They are not only ways of working within
the computer but also in the social world
outside it. They are… general ways of working,
ways of thinking, ways of exis)ng the
computer age.”
Manovich, 2001: The language of new media

36. Cultural interface
Can culture, communi)es, cultural artefacts or in
general cultural interface be used as a general
“model” to model “the human” for the machine?

37. Intelligent tutoring systems
computer must par)cipate in a non‐obtrusive manner

38. Intelligent tutoring systems
As 'external mediators' the machine and the community must have some situa)onal
awareness or understand the conversa)onal context such that it intelligently enhances
and assists the overall interac)on.

39. Media coordina)ons in technological
environments
• People take up each other's contribu)ons or
traces: they reuse someone's phrasing, re‐express
their ideas, begin to aRend to an issue because
someone else raised that issue, react emo)onally
to a statement, etc.
• Ac)ons taken by par)cipants in the technological
environment are “media coordina)ons” because
these ac)ons are the means through which
par)cipants coordinate between personal and
public realms (Hutchins, 1995).
Read: Tracing Interac)on in Distributed Collabora)ve Learning (2008) by Daniel Suthers and
Richard Medina

40. the sensory‐motor interac)ons
between humans and machines
Human and machine can interact with each other via their sensory and motor channels.

41. the sensory‐motor interac)ons
between humans and machines
• Human sensors (receptors) record the physical state of
the human body and the surrounding environment.
• Sensory informa)on is perceived by the human central
nervous system.
• Human cogni)on is required to interpret the perceived
informa)on and generate a motor reac)on.
• Similarly, in machines technical sensors detect the
state of the machine and its environment.
• Sensor data is processed in order to drive actuators
and displays.

42. Hype Cycle for Human Computer
Interac)on

43. Cris Crawford: Star Wars considered as a social network

44. Types of networks
• Two views of mapping networked communi)es
prevail: networks of people and networks of
content.
• The former is a mainstream person‐based view to
the community, the laRer suggests that
contribu)ons in blog act as separate ar)facts that
convey meanings, enable meaning translability
and interpreta)on and generate similarity‐based
connec)ons between ar)facts.

45. SNA e. Social Networking Analysis

46. object‐centered sociality
• Jyri Engeström (2005) wrote: we can use the
object‐centered sociality theory to iden)fy
new objects that are poten)ally suitable for
social networking services.
• hRp://www.zengestrom.com/blog/2005/04/
why‐some‐social‐network‐services‐work‐and‐
others‐dont‐or‐the‐case‐for‐object‐centered‐
sociality.html

47. Artefact‐Actor‐Networks
• Artefact‐Actor‐Networks connects social
networks and artefact networks in order to
make claims on the seman)cal connec)ons
between persons and manifold artefacts.
• “Artefact‐Actor‐Networks as )e between social networks and artefact
networks” by Wolfgang Reinhardt, MaRhias Moi, Tobias Varlemann
• hRp://artefact‐actor‐networks.net/2009/09/what‐are‐artefact‐actor‐networks/

48. Artefact‐Actor‐Networks
hRp://artefact‐actor‐networks.net/2009/09/
what‐are‐artefact‐actor‐networks/

49. Knotworking – a succession of ac)vity
system configura)ons
• Engeström, Engeström and Vähäaho (1999)
write that subjects in work communi.es are
involved in workflows that consist of
combina)ons of people, tasks and tools that get
connected for rela)vely short periods of )me.
These workflows are con.nuously repeated and
evolving.
• These temporal trajectories of successive task‐
oriented combina)ons of people and artefacts
are knotworking situa)ons in ac)vity systems.

50. Knotworking – a succession of ac)vity
system configura)ons
• The no)on of knot refers to a rapidly pulsa)ng,
distributed and par)ally improvised orchestra)on
of collabora)ve performance between otherwise
loosely connected actors and ac)vity systems.
• Knotworking situa)ons rely on the fast
accomplishment of intersubjec.ve understanding,
distributed control and coordinated ac)on
between actors.
• In knots the subjects get connected and perform
ac)ons upon certain shared objects using or
crea)ng artefacts.

51. a rhizomic knowledge
(Deleuze & GuaRari, 2002, p. 7‐9)
• For Deleuze and GuaRari, a rhizomic knowledge was the
opposite of the arborescent or tree‐like knowledge with
its hierarchical systems of understandings and where
everybody and everything had its place in an economy of
power and totalising theory.
• ‘rhizome ceaselessly establishes connec)ons between
semio)c chains…a rhizome or mul)plicity never allows
itself to be overcoded…a rhizome may be broken, shaRered
at a given spot, but it will start up again on one of its old
lines, or on new lines’.
• The rhizome is an accentered, nonhierarchical,
nonsignifying system without a General and without an
organizing memory or central automa)on, defined solely by
a circula)on of states.

52. Rhizomic or taproot?
• There is some antagonism between he
community of prac.ce ideas which seem to be
following the taproot kind of central area ideas
and the totally center‐free rhizomic model.
• The taproot communi)es are formed around
people while the rhizomic communi)es are
ar)fact and meanings centered.
• If we want to create a knowledge‐building
community, it seems the rhizomic model, which
centres ideas is more valid than the person‐based
taproot‐model.

53. Connec)vism
• G. Siemens “Knowing Knowledge” (2006)
• He suggested Connec)vism as the learning theory for new
Digital Age.
• Siemens formulated that Connec)vism is the asser)on that
learning is primarily a network‐forming process (Siemens,
2006, p. 15).
• He relies on the ideas of Downes (2005) who wrote that: A
property of one en.ty must lead to or become a property of
another en.ty in order for them to be considered connected;
the knowledge that results from such connec.ons is
connec.ve knowledge. The act of learning is one of crea.ng
an external network of nodes – where we connect and form
informa.on and knowledge sources (Siemens, 2006, p. 29).

54. Connec)vism
• Connec)vism focuses on the knowledge,
situated externally from people in the web.
• Siemens (2005; 2006) assumes that crea)ng
meanings and rela)ons publicly in social soxware
environments would aid through connec)ve
processes the forma)on of new knowledge
ecologies and learning cultures.
• Siemens writes: The pipe is more important than
the content in the pipe. ‘Know where’ and ‘know
who’ are more important today that ‘knowing
what’ and ‘how’ (Siemens, 2006, p. 32).

55. From networks to communi)es

56. Virtual communi)es
• Virtual communi)es are oxen bound by reference to
common objects or goals, and not by personal
rela)ons.
• It is generally a mistake to equate virtual communi)es
with tradi)onal communi)es, because computer‐
mediated groups actually show novel characteris)cs
and tend toward looser, more impersonal forms of
interac)on.
• Many virtual communi)es do not require any group
awareness to func)on correctly and do not usually
lead to personal rela)onships.
• Daniel Memmi, The nature of virtual communi)es AI and Soc (2006) 20: 288–300
Does it s)ll apply?

57. Community iden)ty
• Flexible group membership
– A typical modern behavior has emerged, where
group membership is constantly re‐evaluated and
renego)ated.
– The modern individual belongs to several groups
(professional, cultural, poli)cal…) at the same )me
but doesn’t iden)fy too closely with any of them.
• Daniel Memmi, The nature of virtual communi)es AI and Soc (2006) 20: 288–300

58. hRp://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building‐Community‐the‐Playorm/Community‐vs‐
Social‐Network/ba‐p/5283

59. Features of virtual communi)es
Characteris)c features of computer‐mediated communi)es
(Gensollen 2004):
– par)cipa)on is oxen occasional, or a one‐off occurrence,
– par)cipants are frequently anonymous or use
pseudonyms,
– groups may be quite large, with hundreds or thousands of
par)cipants,
– there are ac)ve par)cipants, but also many passive
readers,
– group membership is oxen temporary,
– there seems to be liRle group awareness,
– group structure is highly flexible.
Where is it relevant? Does it s)ll apply?

60. Features of virtual communi)es
– contribu)ons to the discussion are oxen addressed to no
one in par)cular,
– many contribu)ons are apparently ignored,
– there are few personal rela)onships, and they are
unstable,
– the discussion style is usually cold and unemo)onal,
(except for some aggressiveness which serves social
control purposes),
– interac)ons are not between persons, but revolve about a
common object, goal or task,
– interac)ons contribute to the construc)on of a common
workspace,
– contribu)ons are mostly goal‐oriented.
Does it s)ll apply?

61. • Communi)es of
prac)ce are
groups of
people who
share a concern
or a passion for
something they
do and learn
how to do it
beRer as they
interact
regularly.
Community of prac)ce

62. identity
structure
negotiabilityidentification
communities economies of meaning
Forms of membership Ownership of meaning
Mode of belonging
engagement
imagination
alignment
Identities of
participation
Identities of non-
participation
Identities of
participation
Identities of non-
participation
Close circle of
friends doing
everything together
Experience of
boundaries through
a faux-pas
Having one’s
ideas adopted
Marginality through
having one’s ideas
ignored
Affinity felt by the
readers of the
newspaper
Prejudice through
stereotypes
Vicarious
experience
through stories
Assumption that someone
else understands what is
going on
Allegiance to a
social movement
Submission to
violance
Persuasion through
directed experience
Literal compiliance
as in tax returns
Wenger, 1998. Social ideology of iden)ty

63. Community types
• Blog based community shows up in three main
paRerns with a wide variety of hybrid forms
emerging between the three:
– The Single Blog/Blogger Centric Community,
– the Central Connec)ng Topic Community and
– the Boundaried Community.
• Blogs and Community – launching a new paradigm for online community?
By Nancy White hRp://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/2006/12/blogs‐and‐community‐launching‐
new.htm

64. The Single Blog/Blogger Centric
Community
• owned by one
owner or
organisa)on with
strong iden)ty
• liRle opportunity
for members to
change, add to or
adapt the
environment e.g.
some forms of
‘backchannel’

65. Central Connec)ng Topic Centric blog
community
• is a network forma)on
• users are less interested
in posi)oning
themselves, as they are
in the topic they write
about
• beyond the visible
membership of linked
blogs is the wider and
mostly invisible network
of readers.

66. Boundaried community
• Are hosted on a
single site or
playorm
• Elgg
• Moodle
• Power in boundaried
communi)es is held
in part by the
‘owner’ of the
playorm who can
impose rules on the
community

67. Spa)ally determined community
Loca)on‐based tools allow new types of spa)al communi)es to emerge based on
mutual awareness

68. Awareness
Chris Crawford: Pacman considered as a social network
Awareness is defined as a human's or an
animal's percep)on and cogni)ve reac)on
to a condi)on or event or paRern, it does
not imply understanding:
‐ self‐awareness
‐ awareness of others and the surrounding
situa)on

69. Mutual awareness may trigger
interac)on
Think when you become more aware of other people in your virtual community?

70. Swarming is a self‐organized way of
interac)on
• Describes self‐organizing behavior in popula)ons by
which local interac)ons between decentralized simple
agents can create complex global swarming behavior.
• Every agent is only responsible for its individual
ac)ons.
• Swarm intelligence refers to systems which accomplish
complex global tasks through the simple local
interac)ons of autonomous agents.
• Swarm intelligence relies upon the emergent
proper)es of its components to manifest itself.
Emergence is the process by which complex paRerns
form out of the interac)on of simpler rules.

71. Same inten)ons

72. Mutual awareness

73. Dissipa)ng signals

74. ARractors are lex on the trail
• Foraging is a behavior of
loca)ng food and
transpor)ng it back to the
nest.
• The ants are individuals
responding to their own
sensory informa)on and
pheromone signals.
• Pheromones are chemical
basis for ant communica)on
deposited/detected by ants.
Deposit aEractant pheromone on
the trail from food.
Follow the pheromone up its
concentra)on gradient to the
source.
Increase pheromone concentra)on
to aRract more.
This posi)ve feedback loop
produces a swarm of ants to quickly
transport the food source.

75. Individuals become trail markers
• For a low density of individuals it is beneficial to
use linear chains to form a path for search.
• With high density of individuals, a more branched
structure is a beRer choice for search.
Campo & Dorigo, 2008

76. Accumula)ng
signals

77. ARractor is connected with building blocks
In the first, a termite picks up a soil
pellet, mas)cates it into a paste and
injects a termite‐ aRrac)ng
pheromone into it.
When the pellet is deposited, the
pheromone s)mulates nearby
termites to pellet‐gathering
behavior and makes them more
likely to deposit their pellets nearby.
Second, small obstacles in the
terrain s)mulate pellet deposits and
can seed pillars.
Finally, a trail pheromone allows
more workers to be drawn to a
construc)on site. Building the termite nest is a swarming behavior

78. Swarm‐individual viability
• In social swarms individuals rely on the swarm
behaviour.
• Swarm level ac)vi)es create condi)ons for
viability.
Social soxware
mashing
pulling
social retrieval

79. Par)cipatory surveillance
• When many ac)ons are
aggregated, paEerns become
visible.
• Individuals’ ac)ons may be used
to assemble a detailed profile
revealing the ac)ons, habits,
beliefs, loca)ons frequented,
social connec)ons, and
preferences of the individual.
• Par)cipa)ng in social networks
resides on social surveillance.
• Swarm members can use it as
environmental informa)on to
adopt them beEer to the
environment and to ini)ate
swarm ac)ons.

80. Ques)ons to answer in the end
• How does a community serve as a “cultural
interface” to mediate communica)on with
computers?
• Think of the terms related with social
interac)on with new media. Draw a concept
map of social interac)on.