This course is about social life in the on-line world. Its focus is on how the design of the interface influences people's interactions with each other and shapes the cultural mores and structures they develop. We will examine the ways social cues are communicated in the real and the virtual world, discuss the limits imposed upon on-line communities by their mediated nature, and explore directions that virtual societies can take that are impossible for physical ones.
Readings range from classic papers in cognitive science, anthropology and urban studies to recent studies in the sociology of online communities. The work for this class includes reading articles, analyzing existing systems and designing innovative interfaces.
Lec # 1 - Designing sociable media
Lec # 2 - The culture of text-based conversations
Lec # 3 - Visualizing conversations
Lec # 4 - Graphical conversations
Lec # 5 - New interfaces for conversation
Lec # 6 - Resenting Identity
Lec # 7 - Mediated Faces
Lec # 9 - The Culture of the Web (CHI)
Lec # 10 - Identity Project
Lec # 11 - Final Project Proposal
Lec # 12 - Time and History
Lec # 13 - Domestic Space
Lec # 14 - Public Space
Lec # 15 - Final presentations