Social computing
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| Social computing | |
|---|---|
| Name | Social computing |
| Caption | Schematic of networked interaction and information flow |
| Field | Human–computer interaction; Computer science; Sociology; Psychology; Communication studies |
| Related | Tim Berners-Lee, Vannevar Bush, Joseph Weizenbaum, Douglas Engelbart |
| Introduced | Mid-20th century (conceptual precursors) |
Social computing Social computing studies how people interact with computational systems and with each other through those systems, combining insights from Herbert A. Simon, Norbert Wiener, Donald Knuth, Alan Turing and practitioners such as Ted Nelson and Mary Allen Wilkes. It bridges technical work at institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Xerox PARC, Bell Labs and IBM Research with social science investigations by scholars from Harvard University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. The field informs the design of platforms developed by companies including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and LinkedIn.
Definition and Scope
Social computing encompasses the design, analysis and deployment of systems that support social interaction among users mediated by software and hardware. Research draws on methods from Claude Shannon-inspired information theory, John von Neumann-style computation theory, ethnographic traditions from Bronisław Malinowski and Clifford Geertz, experimental paradigms associated with Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo, and economic models influenced by John Nash and Thomas Schelling. Key topics include human-centered design advanced at IDEO, participatory design from Susanne Bødker-style communities, and algorithmic moderation exemplified by policies at European Commission and rulings like those from the United States Supreme Court that affect platform governance.
History and Evolution
Early conceptual roots trace to machines and ideas by Vannevar Bush (memex), Alan Turing (Turing Test), and interactive computing experiments at Xerox PARC and MIT Media Lab. The emergence of multi-user systems at Bell Labs, bulletin board systems popularized by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, and Usenet developed by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis set technical precedents. The commercial rise of web platforms by Tim Berners-Lee, the social graph innovations at Facebook co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg, and microblogging popularized by Evan Williams and Biz Stone at Twitter transformed scale. Scholarship evolved through contributions from Sherry Turkle, Howard Rheingold, Clay Shirky, danah boyd and Yochai Benkler, while standards and practices emerged through bodies like Internet Engineering Task Force and World Wide Web Consortium.
Technologies and Platforms
Foundational technologies include distributed systems researched at Carnegie Mellon University, databases advanced by Michael Stonebraker, recommender systems from teams at Netflix and Amazon, and machine learning methods popularized by work at Google DeepMind and OpenAI. Platforms range from social networks like Facebook and Instagram to collaborative systems such as Wikipedia coordinated by the Wikimedia Foundation, professional networks like LinkedIn, messaging services including WhatsApp developed by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, and multimedia services run by YouTube founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. Interaction paradigms draw on interfaces from Apple Inc. and interaction techniques from researchers at HCI Lab, University of Washington and Georgia Tech. Backend infrastructures rely on cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
Social Dynamics and Behavior
Social computing interrogates phenomena such as network effects studied in relation to Metcalfe's law, diffusion patterns investigated after Everett Rogers, social capital theories revisited from Robert Putnam, and collective action frameworks influenced by Mancur Olson. Empirical analyses use social network analysis methods from Wassily Leontief-adjacent quantitative traditions and modeling approaches pioneered by Paul Erdős collaborators. Work on opinion formation cites experiments following Solomon Asch and Muzafer Sherif, while mobilization and protest research references movements like Arab Spring and organizational dynamics in Occupy Wall Street. Platform-specific behaviors include virality studies linked to campaigns by Barack Obama's digital teams, misinformation investigations relating to events such as the 2016 United States presidential election, and content moderation debates sparked by incidents involving Alex Jones and decisions by Content Moderation Task Forces.
Applications and Use Cases
Applications span online collaboration exemplified by GNU Project and Apache Software Foundation contributions, crowd work marketplaces such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and Upwork, civic technology initiatives like Code for America and OpenStreetMap, health informatics projects partnered with World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and education platforms including Coursera, edX and Khan Academy founded by Sal Khan. Commercial use cases include targeted advertising practiced by DoubleClick and analytics products by Adobe Systems, while journalism and fact-checking leverage collaborations with organizations like The New York Times and Reuters. Crisis response integrates tools from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team and platforms used during disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief coordination.
Privacy, Ethics, and Governance
Concerns over privacy and ethics engage regulators and institutions including European Commission agencies enforcing General Data Protection Regulation, national bodies like the Federal Trade Commission and tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights. Debates involve researchers such as Latanya Sweeney on re-identification, technologists like Bruce Schneier on security, and ethicists influenced by Peter Singer and Nick Bostrom on broader moral implications. Governance models compare corporate self-regulation by Facebook and Google with legislative frameworks like California Consumer Privacy Act and international agreements reflected in forums such as the United Nations General Assembly and multistakeholder efforts at Internet Governance Forum. Transparency, algorithmic accountability promoted by groups like AlgorithmWatch, and labor rights advocacy by unions including Communication Workers of America shape ongoing policy and design choices.