Analysing Social Network Sites

Analysing Social Network Sites

Aims• This week– Social capital vs. Social support– Communities– Persuasion technology in social networks

Social network sites• It is easy to view social network sites simply as

bits of technology– Like we did last week• Profiles, avatars, friends lists, etc.

– But there is more behind that– Last week we asked “why do people use social

network sites?”• Same question this week!

But different perspective• So what do people get from social network

sites?– At a broader level, why do people use social

network sites?• Not ‘what do they do on them?’• But ‘what do they gain through that use?’

Social capital vs. social support• Social capital is the value of social relationships– It can take the form of knowledge, skills, access to

resources (e.g. job interviews), and more (e.g. money)

• Social support is the emotional experience of being cared for– Can be understood as one of the resources of

social capital

Social capital• Social capital is an important concept for

sociologists– It is one way to explain why people gather in

groups that are larger than can be explained by evolution

– Today, it is seen as an explanation for many changes in society

Bowling alone• In 1996, Robert Putnam argued that society

(in America) was in decline because individuals’ social capital was in decline– Neighbourhoods, towns, clubs, organisations– All these were ‘disappearing’ into cities

Social capital in the net• Only online communities appeared to be

going against the trend– Online communities were starting to grow and

provided access to people with knowledge, skills, resources, that people didn’t normally have access to

– Global village

Social networks• That social capital on the internet was so

promising gave rise to the view of ‘networked individualism’– That is, individuals were not ‘in’ groups, but rather

maintained their individualism while being connected to others

Networked individualism• Individuals are connected to

others in order to share resources, information, knowledge, etc.

Social network analysis• We can therefore analyse the

way people interact by examining the flow of resources through the network– E.g. Granovetter– More likely to get a job from a

friend of friend than a friend

Community“Sense of community is a feeling that members have of

belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”

McMillan, 1976, as cited in McMillan and Chavis, 1986, p.9.

The important features of communities include a feeling of being part of something greater than ourselves, something enjoyable and personally meaningful.

Features of community1. is a feeling that members have of belonging, 2. a feeling that members matter:

to one another and to the group

3. a shared faith that members’ needs will be met 4. through their commitment to be together

Are these features then necessarily restricted to the real world, or can we successfully recreate communities on the Internet?

Meaningful relationships may be formed online because of, rather than in spite of, the inherent limitations..

“the medium will, by it’s nature..be a place where people often end up revealing themselves far more intimately than they would be inclined to do without the intermediation of screens and pseudonyms”

Rheingold (1993, p.27)

• Some opposition to online communication emphasis the transient nature of ‘friendships’ online, and fear that (particularly) young people online become more concerned with collecting numbers of friends than developing quality friendships with offline peers.

• These ‘commodity’ friendships may reduce the effort involved in maintaining friendships, but also may lack the supportive permanence of negotiating relationships in the real world

Friendship as a Commodity• This is the current system within social

network sites– And is useful for business and viral marketing– But may be damaging to how we define

relationships– It is at odds with providing Social Support

Social support online• Seems to be a focus on the potential dangers of online

communication, with little acknowledgement of the potential benefits of it.

• Geographically dispersed/mobility disabled individuals who may share an unusual source of stress can now communicate easily

• Rare illness support groups/groups discussing sensitive emotional stress

• ‘Real world’ marginalised individuals who participate in online groups (skinheads, believers in aliens on earth etc.) reportedly feel greater social identification with their online groups and thus had greater self-acceptance and less isolation from others.

Group polarisation online• “the greatest loss in public discourse on the

net is the loss of moderate voices”• Shirky (1995)

• Group polarisation may be at least partly responsible for the level of extremism we see on the Internet

• Online it is easy to find like-minded others to reinforce our views

Analysing Social network sites• It is important to consider both the

technological and social– Particularly the lived and felt lives of those who

interact online– Social network sites have a lot of potential• Particularly to change how we communicate• But also our behaviours

Articles and resources• http://

jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

• http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/• http://www.people.ku.edu/~

nbaym/research2.html• http://www.danah.org/researchBibs/sns.php

• Persuasion is the deliberate influence of others in order to change their attitudes or behaviour

Attitudes are our cognitive evaluations of other people, objects, events.How much we like or dislike something.

Behaviours are the overt responses we make to our environment.The things we do.

Persuasion

Persuasion• List five ways you may have been persuaded

today

• Has someone or something changed what you were doing?

• Or changed your evaluation of another person or product?

Captology• “Computers As Persuasive Technology”- ology• “...captology focuses on the design, research, and analysis

of interactive computing products created for the purpose of changing people’s attitudes or behaviour.” Fogg, 2003, p5

• It is not so concerned with– Computer mediated communication (i.e. person to person

influence through computers)– Coercion and deceit

• Though these are arguably very important in the study of persuasion

Advantages over human persuaders

• More persistent– E.g. software registration reminders– “no human can be as persistent as a machine” p8

• Greater anonymity– “At times anonymity makes it easier for people to

change” p8• Manage huge volumes of data– E.g. Amazon recommendations

Source: BJ Fogg. Persuasive Technology.

More advantages• Use many modalities to influence– Visual, auditory, haptic

• Scale easily– Computers and software can scale easily.

• Go where humans cannot go or are not welcome (ubicomp)

• Immediacy, interactivity, ubiquity, persistence.

Interactivity• Interactivity is the key feature of persuasive

interfaces– Sets it apart from other persuasive media such as

TV, print, radio.• “As a general rule, persuasion techniques are

most effective when they are interactive, when persuaders adjust their influence tactics as the situation evolves.” P6

Persuasive technology• List five ways that technology might change

your behaviour or attitude?– what you are doing or your evaluation of an

object, person, event

Levels of persuasion• Macrosuasion – describes the overall

persuasive intent of a product.• Microsuasion – products that do not have an

overall persuasive intent may still incorporate persuasive elements to achieve a different goal. – E.g. continuous feedback on task completion.

Microsuasion• Fogg argues that buttons on webpages such as

“Sign-up” can be considered microsuasion. – This seems to apply to any aspect of a site, including for

instance, the curiosity people have about Facebook. Does a site design curiosity?

– This is also applied to in-game rewards and other co-occurring elements in success (e.g. the noise of a dying enemy in a game or haptic feedback from a controller). There is also promise or anticipation (e.g. gaining new powers or levelling up). And getting on a high score list.

Functional TriadComputer as ToolsIncreases capability

Computers as Social ActorCreates relationships

Computer as MediumCreates experiences

Functional Triad• Computers as tools: • Make behaviour easier to do, lead through the process, perform tasks that

motivate– Helping

• Computer as medium: • Allow people to explore cause-and-effect relationships, provide people with

vicarious experiences, help people rehearse a behaviour– Simulating

• Computers as social actor:• Reward people with positive feedback, modelling a target behaviour or

attitude, providing social support– Relating

Tool, Medium, Social Actor

Helping, simulating, relating

Functional Triad

Computer as ToolsIncreases capability

Computers as Social ActorCreates relationships

Computer as MediumCreates experiences

As a tool• Seven techniques of persuasive technology:– Reduction– Tunnelling– Tailoring– Suggestion– Self-monitoring– Surveillance– Conditioning

Reduction• Persuasion through simplification• Benefit/cost ratio maximisation through cost

reduction – usually in terms of cognitive load• May also increase self-efficacy, and therefore,

positive attitude toward behaviour– That is, when we think we are good at something

we tend to like it more

“Traffic lights” are very popular!

Reduction

Tunnelling• Leading users through a predetermined set of

steps.• User gives up control and self-determination• Captive audience– ethical problems: must show ‘exits’ from tunnel

Tunnelling

Tailoring• Persuasion through customisation – e.g. information filtering. – Tailored information is more effective at changing

attitudes/behaviour than generic– May only require the perception that information

is tailored.• Includes personalisation/customisation

Tailoring

Problem?

Suggestion• “An interactive computer product that

suggests a behaviour at the most opportune moment” (p43)

• Also known as kairos

Suggestion

Urinal flyFocuses attention at the right timeAlso uses techniques of reduction and tunnellingDrastically reduces ‘spillage’

Radar speed signGives you information at the right time

Suggestion• Suggestion is most powerful– when people are in a good mood; – when asked they can act immediately;– when they feel obliged due to reciprocity;– when they have recently denied a request.

Suggestion• Facebook has mastered ‘hot triggers’• These are both the messages sent out• And the content on the site

The action I want to take are in the path of my browsing

Suggestion• Where should you place your ‘Sign-up’ form?• Websites use may different techniques– But what should be most effective?

Self-monitoring• “Allows people to monitor themselves to modify

their attitudes or behaviours to achieve a predetermined goal or outcome” (p44)– Ideally real-time data feedback– Fogg argues that this is related to self-efficacy and self-

understanding• I.e. People will feel more able to complete a task if they

know how they are doing• And will know more about themselves

Self-monitoring

Surveillance• “allows one party to monitor the behaviour of

another to modify behaviour in a specific way” (p46)– Must be overt– Can include reward– But may simply instil compliance without

internalisation

Surveillance

Conditioning• “computerized system that uses principles of operant

conditioning to change behaviours” (p49)– Should immediately follow the performance of target

behaviour– But not every performance (Reward should be

unpredictable)