draft conception for a project at the Danube University Krems, Department for Telecommunications, Information, and Media, deutsche Version
Social Software Lab
Description of the term
Humans are social beings. A large percentage of our decisions and coordination projects are based on the social context (or the social information) they are embedded in. Whether at the super market, in the parking lot or in the context of establishing new organisation units, we have been interacting with other people ever since the day we were born. Along the way we have learned to refine our interaction tools: gestures, facial expressions, language and writing.
However, all is subject to change when we move from a face-to-face context into the digitally-conveyed space. Detailed social data are lost almost entirely and we almost become socially blind. But on the other hand totally new forms of interpersonal and group interactions emerge - it is not about deficits but about differences.
Despite this, or maybe even because of it, a new type of software has emerged beginning in the 1940s and continuing to the present day with the advent of the world wide web. As PCs began to replace mainframe computers an interest in enhancing individuals' productivity led to software tools such as word processing, accounting and graphics software . More recently, software that focuses on the interaction between humans and between humans and machines has appeared.
One such example are the collaborative filters utilised by amazon.com. These filters rely on other customers¹ choices to generate purchase recommendations for the user. Some online auction sites also make use of this type of filter, albeit in slightly different ways. Web publishing tools form another particularly relevant example. Lastly, we may consider so-called ³social networking² applications or Social Software, loosely based on Milgram¹s principle of "Six Degrees of Separation".
Social software differs from groupware and other project or organisation based collaborative applications in some important ways. Social software centers around the individual¹s desires and need for affiliation with others, whereas groupware and others classify the individual in the context of projects and similar organisational units.
The term Social Software sustainably coined in 2002 is characterised by the formula "connection comes before content" and can furthermore be described on three levels.
Social Software supports:
WikiWebs, Weblogs, Online Social Networks, Instant-Messaging are other forms of online community-building, all alike applications with inherent cultures and acquisition forms that include both private and professional spheres.
The social significance of this movement led the Ars Electronica Festival 2004 to introduce ³digital communities² as a separate category for the first time in history.
Social Software is a shibboleth for current trends in the fields of CMC, or more generally for the usage Internet/Web for professional or private purposes.
Bookmarks:
Thematic focus:
For our purposes, the Social Software Workshop will focus on Web-Publishing (Wikis, Weblogs, Groupware) with the aim of establishing an international networks in this field.
Based on such international networks, we will pursue the following objectives:
Outputs
Support and cooperations:
Partnerships with research and educational institutions particularly those that pursue new venues of knowledge and information transfer are actively pursued and realised.
Examples include the areas of:
Supporting organizations:
Thomas N. Burg 
