Social Structures
Mobility offers new possibilities to social interaction we've never had before. Localization and high mobile bandwidth only add to these possibilities.
Six degrees of separation
Six degrees of separation is the hypothesis that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries.
The hypothesis was first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Karinthy Frigyes in a short story called Chains. The concept is based on the idea that the number of acquaintances grows exponentially with the number of links in the chain, and so only a small number of links is required for the set of acquaintances to become the whole human population.
By extension, the same term is often used to describe any other setting in which some form of link exists between individual entities in a large set. For example, "see also" links in a dictionary entry may point the reader to other entries in the same dictionary; after following only six such links, the reader could potentially get to any word in the dictionary that has a link to it. In this special case of a dictionary, it is sometimes called the six links rule.
The game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" was invented in 1994 as a play on the concept: the goal is to link any actor to Kevin Bacon through no more than six connections, where two actors are connected if they have appeared in a movie together. The web site "The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia" [1] attempts to definitively solve this game for any actor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram
Familiar Strangers
The Familiar Stranger is a social phenomenon first addressed by the psychologist Stanley Milgram in his 1972 essay on the subject. Familiar Strangers are individuals that we regularly observe but do not interact with. By definition a Familiar Stranger (1) must be observed, (2) repeatedly, and (3) without any interaction. The claim is that the relationship we have with these Familiar Strangers is indeed a real relationship in which both parties agree to mutually ignore each other, without any implications of hostility. A good example is a person that one sees on the subway every morning. If that person fails to appear, we notice.
Familiar Strangers form a border zone between people we know and the completely unknown strangers we encounter once and never see again. While we are bound to the people we know by a circle of social reciprocity, no such bond exists between us and complete strangers. Familiar Strangers buffer the middle ground between these two relationships. Because we encounter them regularly in familiar settings, they establish our connection to individual places.
http://berkeley.intel-research.net/paulos/research/familiarstranger/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familiar_stranger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram
Mobile P2P
What will it take for Mobile Social Networking to become the 3G killer app in ways that SMS was for 2G Mobile? Now that many social networks (like MySpace) are venturing into the mobile realm many are looking for the mobile success factors. First social networks should be seen as more than a map of the relationships between individuals. It's more about 'object centered sociality' as Jyri Engeström states. Social networks consist of people who are connected by a shared object. Flickr, for example, has turned photos into objects of sociality. On del.icio.us the objects are the URLs. EVDB, Upcoming.org, and evnt focus on events as objects. When social networking becomes mobile, place can also become an object of sociality.
A quick peek into the present and near future:
We now see with WiFi networks becoming more ubiquitous and (gaming) handhelds having WiFi connectivity, that possibilities for sharing are increasing. Mobile social software (MoSoSo) has up until now been mostly about finding people in your vicinity and at that time for social, sexual/dating or business networking. But now crowds of people could be lurking around WLAN hotspots, becoming part of a local, transient P2P file-sharing network sharing files, media, thoughts, stories, profiles, bookmarks, playlists or whatever. They'll finely nuance the levels of trust around information items they wish to share and have their own spiders and agents performing specific tasks.
Currently P2P communication on handhelds has expanded from voice telephony to Skype and IM applications like MSN taking advantage of the 'always-on' state of your mobile device and letting your contacts for instance know if you're 'busy'.
Shortrange communication (e.g. RFID,UWB or Bluetooth) has now made it possible for people to (un)consciously interact by exchanging profiles or messages by simply passing by eachother and thereby expanding and feeding into their social network. This type of communication is not bound to mobile phones and will surely in the near future make it's way into all types of wearables and clothing. Shortrange communication can even allow for ad-hoc P2P networks to emerge.
Mobile P2P searches for new possibilities of interaction in a world where your 'presence' (location, context and state) and that of others in your network play a central role and looks into how a physical location enriches that interaction.
Toothing
Toothing was originally a media hoax that claimed that Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones or PDAs were being used to arrange random sexual encounters.
It appears that toothing started around March 2004, in the form of a fake forum designed by Ste Curran, then Editor at Large at games magazine Edge, and ex-journalist Simon Byron. On April 4, 2005, the creators of the forum admitted that the whole thing was a hoax.
In toothing, a Bluetooth device is used to 'discover' other enabled devices within about 30 feet (10 meters), then send the expression toothing? as an initial greeting. In addition, or when sending of text messages via Bluetooth is not possible, the Bluetooth name of the phone can be set to toothing? or something else to indicate interest.
Although created as a hoax, bluetoothing merged the very credible concepts of short-range wireless networking and desire for sexual partners. Recent news from more credible sources shows some evidence of real usage of bluetooth for this purpose in (generally concurred) public places. Given the limited functionality and poor usability of standard bluetooth implementations to support messaging, it is not surprising that wider usage of it would only arise in extreme dating situations. Bluetoothing is an example of localized social networking, which is becoming increasingly popular via products such as Jambo, Enpresence, DodgeBall, MobiLuck, Easy Jack,Crunkie, MamJam, Cellphedia, and Playtxt. A related term is MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software) and a recent entrant in this category is a Windows-based application called My MoSoSo. Nokia has released a product called Sensor which standardizes many of the original concepts guiding the creation of the hoax.
Mobile Social Software
MoSoSo, or mobile social software, is software -- generally on a mobile phone or on a laptop computer -- that facilitates social encounters by associating geographical location and time with one's own social network.
http://mobhappy.typepad.com/russell_buckleys_mobhappy/2005/05/the_perfect_mos.html
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66813,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
http://www.m-trends.org/2005/11/mososo-wi-fi.html
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2005/tc20050629_3438_tc024.htm
http://www.mindjack.com/feature/phone12142005.html
Design patterns for Mobile Social Software
A growing list of social applications that work in a mobile context.
This research project explores our often ignored yet real relationships with Familiar Strangers. We describe several experiments and studies that lead to a design for a personal, body-worn, wireless device that extends the Familiar Stranger relationship while respecting the delicate, yet important, constraints of our feelings and relationships with strangers in pubic places.
A visualization tool based on Mobster that enables users to explore their social encounters in new ways. Designed to be an open framework on which locative (meaning location-based) networking applications can be built.
A social network tracking and visualization project. The project distributes a set of small stickpins, each of which uses limited-rage infrared data exchange to remember every other pin that it encounters. When pin wearers come to a central location to view the accreting network, they see a thousand circles on a plasma display panel, each representing a pin.
The first of these services is aimed at public transport users in Turin. While on the move, travellers can find dynamic information on mobile screen-based devices while at home or at the office, people can find the same information on physical display units. The other service is a personalised and flexible scheduling system to help Interaction-Ivrea students organise shared laundry facilities; mobile and stationary tools give them constant updates about the progress of their laundry cycle.
Affords the social creation and excavation of proximity history. At its core is a simple question: Who was near who when? Software on users’ mobile devices (laptops, cell phones, PDAs) monitors the presence of nearby devices (Wi-Fi hotspots, cell towers, Bluetooth devices), from which Mobster infers historical proximity models. We call these sociospatial histories.
Expanding the possible meaning and metaphors about access, proximity, wireless and WiFi. This access point is not the web without wires. Instead, it is its own web, an apparatus that forces one to reconsider and question notions of virtuality, materiality, displacement, proximity and community.
A mobile wireless application that allows users to share their music locally through handheld devices.
An interactive MP3 Jukebox device designed to allow a group of people in a public space to democratically choose the music being played. A public display is used to nominate songs which are subsequently voted on by people in the bar using networked wireless handheld devices.
One of the first location-based instant messaging platform for mobile phones. Asks the user to input location, and then creates links to others in the same space. (Case study here)
Tell us where you are and we’ll tell you who and what is around you. We’ll ping your friends with your whereabouts, let you know when friends-of-friends are within 10 blocks, allow you to broadcast content to anyone within 10 blocks of you or blast messages to your groups of friends.
A Bluetooth-enabled mobile social medium that allows people to meet, interact and communicate.
Using Bluetooth-enabled laptops and PDAs to find new contacts, communicate over small distances, and share information related to their business.
A service that lets you quickly and easily share txt messages with friends, comrades, and total strangers. The format is similar to an email b-board system. You can sign up to send and receive messages from various groups, which are organized around a range of different topics.
Uses Bluetooth to detect the proximity of other devices and determine whether there is a match between users’ entertainment profiles. The application can be used as a platform for personal area network music discovery, file exchange and/or sampling, as well as for social networking based on similar entertainment interests.
Enables users to connect with others with a similar interest that meet your filter criteria using user-definable groups tied to a specific location.
Using bluetooth technology, ProxiDating allows you to meet people with common interests.
Plazes is a web service offering information on people and places based on your location. It enables you to tag your location and announce it to your friends or the world. You can find other Plazes in your vicinity or see where your friends are at the moment. It also allows you to see other people you do not know yet at the same Place.
A ‘people search engine’ and social networking application. You can search for friends, see who they know and who knows them, find people with shared interests. Can use an SMS interface in the UK.
Saw-You allows u 2 chat 2 people who go to the same social venues you do on your mobile phone. U don’t see their number and they don’t see yours.
An application for mobile phones that can instigate interactions between you and people you don’t know. A profile, along with your mobile phone provide a connection a community of people around you.
Lets you find dates and friends anywhere, anytime. Tell WhoAt where you are and we tell you who’s nearby – all from your mobile phone, PDA, or PC.
We have performed an ethnographic study that reveals the importance of social interaction, and especially traffic encounters, for the enjoyment of biking. We summarized these findings into a set of design requirements for a service supporting mobile interaction among motorcyclists.
The Japanese expression for “are you free now?”. A mobile, location-integrated, community and instant messaging service allowing users to share their current personal status (location, activity, mood) publicly and privately with their buddies and send picture and instant messages to them.
A location-aware mobile social networking platform that allows people to connect with their friends and friends of friends in new, expressive ways.
A distributed, peer-to-peer platform that connects a person to people and services in the same location. An open, extensible platform. New features can be developed and propagated by an open-source community running on wired as well as wireless networks.
A flexible platform that operates a spatio-temporal moblog (mobile log) allowing collective contribution and distribution of media. Considering scalable systems, comprehensive and inclusive models for participation, the project has focused upon how to communicate context-awareness, mobile experience, and its narrative potential.
A technology platform and global network of local venues that helps people self-organize local group gatherings on the same day everywhere.
Music in a venue should reflect the taste of the people in that space, not the owner of the jukebox or the people working behind the bar. What if a jukebox allowed people to add their own music or could help you remember what was played at a particular time? What if the box was aware of who was in the room and could queue up your favorite songs as you walked through the door?
Transmitters, embedded in cigarette lighters deliberately lost in carefully chosen pubs, illuminate the social relationships underlying daily habits of travel, entertainment and (nicotine) gifting.
An Internet-enhanced street game in which players stage and document small interventions or “stunts” on the street corners of New York in order to claim turf on a virtual map of the city. The game is an experiment in collectively reimagining commonplace views of New York. By providing an online counterpart to the urban environment, it allows players to share their visions of the city with others.
Enables a user to surf for other Bluetooth devices and get in contact with them, primarily designed for a campus environment.
A web server for the Pocket PC that advertises itself to other Pocket PCs in the neighbourhood wirelessly using ad-hoc WiFi networks and Rendezvous.
A contact/messaging application using Bluetooth wireless technology. Runs on Smartphones/PDA or PC and helps people to meet in mobile situations.
Enables users to find their ‘ideal partner’ on the spot (unity of time and venue). Works in any GPRS network and on all mobile phones with Symbian OS and Nokia’s Series 60 platform.
Cell phone software that enables Members to communicate with others, blog, chat in forums, file share, publish events, locate others, buy & sell, geo-tag locations and play games.
An event communications system using wearable computers that improve networking among event participants while streamlining event management.
A mobile location based friendship and flirting network. Built with a mobile messaging engine, it offers full web integration and dating, flirting and friends networking capabilities, including six degrees of seperation, all mobile enabled.
A social networking multi-user game “Cell Phone” is based on the popular Chinese movie of the same name. This comedy movie was directed by one of China’s best known directors, Feng Xiaogang. Customers play this multi-combining romance and SMS and MMS.
Download pictures, wallpapers, screensavers and avatars to use for Bluejacking.
Uses bluetooth enabled devices (mobile phones, PDA’s, laptop computers) to create moments of ad-hoc solidarity for people opposed to George W. Bush.
A suite that can turn a mobile phone user into an on-location broadcaster. You can add information and commentary about restaurant reviews to safety tips. You can find a buddy, or track a truck, inspect a neighborhood for real estate or child safety. It’s good for both social and business and it puts the power of blogging technology into the hands of the masses.