Social Interaction Design: Social Software papers

I've just posted some new social interaction design downloads. I have a tendency to write too much, and combined with my tendency to leave unfinished what I've started, much of my work is still on the shelf. These three downloads draw from a book-length project in which I've been breaking apart what makes social software work. How it provides for "presence." How it facilitates communication, and interaction, and why those are not the same thing. I cover user experience, group dynamics, cultural phenomena, as well as design ideas, principles, and observations. As always, I'm eager to discuss!
All are drafts, and as are all drafts, prone to typos and some sloppiness in cutting and pasting...

• Social Interaction Design: Social Navigation 21M pdf This document, heavy on screenshots, examines principles of social interaction design. Using several social software sites as examples (Tribe.net, MySpace, Friendster, FastCupid personals, Flickr, and Typepad blogging), I explore the basic premise that in social software, all design choices inform user communication and interaction.



• Attributes of Online Social Systems pdf A brief 7 pager excerpted from an ongoing book project on what makes social software work. This pdf looks at just some of the social characteristics of social software sites.



• Culture, Groups, and Individuals pdf Also excerpted from a book project, this 27 page pdf breaks down the distinctions between individuals, groups, and culture overall on social software sites. The paper examines ways in which self-presentation and presence, proximity, rhythm and timing, and much more form the particular kinds of interactions seen among online communities.