« GodzillaFest | Main | You want ketchup with that? » History of Social SoftwareChris Allen has written and shared what strikes me as a first draft of a history of the concept of social software as well as the label (which seems to have been applied first ins the nineties, though not widely adopted before the last couple of years, applied especially to blogs, wikis, and connective tissue (syndication, i.e. RSS and Atom). It's probably useful to establish the history and understand the context for the "technologies of cooperation" (per Rheingold) that are forming robust communications systems in the 21st century. To me the term itself is marketspeak: those of us who do Internet-based communication consulting and develop technologies to support group-forming and interaction needed a label more apt than "virtual community," one that would address business as well as casual applications for computer-mediated communication. However communication is the key (and when I'm wearing the relevant hat I'm more likely to say that I do "communication consulting.") I can see where Chris might expand his article into a book; hope he's giving that some thought. jon posted this at 5:04 PM |
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