The next four weeks will be dedicated to services called Social Software. In answering the question "what is Social Software" the obvious question is "what does social software do?"
That's the problem: there really isn't a single "do" that can describe all social softwares. There are some fairly common threads, however.
- Social softwares usually cover a particular theme or purpose. For instance, del.icio.us is about website bookmarks, Library Thing is about books and Flickr is about photographs.
- Social softwares usually offer something called "tags." Tags are common words applied to objects (like photographs, or bookmarks or books) in order to describe them and trace them for later.
- Social softwares usually encourage you to add "friends," "contacts," or whatnot so you can easily share information with others in real time.
- Social softwares are usually developed using something called an "API" or Application Programming Interface. That's technical jargon, but the main thing you need to know is that people who understand code can use a service's API to create websites that use multiple social softwares in a mashup. For example, flickr.no-end uses flickr to create large-scale mosaics based on search terms. Flickrvision takes Flickr pictures and applies them to a Google Map. If you think about how "widgets" can be put on to your blog, that's an "API" at work (although some bright young coder already did the work for you).
- Social softwares usually encourage users to add, edit, and change the content on the website. This is different from standard websites, of course. Take, for instance, how the library's website currently does not allow users to "change" the information there.
That's why the "Things" for this week are vague. I want you to try them out, in whatever way you want to. After that, I will ask you to try out a few "tasks" (tagging, for instance) using a social software that matches your own liking.
Have fun!
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