Profound gains in information technology (IT) innovations over the past five decades are leading to the emergence of the virtual society. In the virtual society, people create and sell goods and services through telec...
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Profound gains in information technology (IT) innovations over the past five decades are leading to the emergence of the virtual society. In the virtual society, people create and sell goods and services through telecommunication and computer technologies with minimal physical contact among them. This article examines the virtual society in terms of the driving forces that are leading to its widespread dissemination and the specific arrangements being used. Driving forces include global economics, policies and politics, enlightened and diversified populations, and information technology. Arrangements include telework for individuals, computersupportedcooperativework for groups, virtual corporations formed by continually shifting alliances among firms, virtual communities based upon professional and social interests rather than geographic closeness, and virtual society based on electronic media that empower individuals. Although IT is listed as its own driving force, it is also seen as the constant. IT is both the enabler and shaper of all the driving forces including itself. The virtual society will result in changes in both how people behave and in the technology they use. Its success or failure, as well as the positive and negative implications of its adoption are considered in detail.
The effects of computer-mediated communication on social loafing in brainstorming tasks and social compensation in decision-making tasks are examined. In the first experiment, subjects performed a brainstorming task i...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9781581130652
The effects of computer-mediated communication on social loafing in brainstorming tasks and social compensation in decision-making tasks are examined. In the first experiment, subjects performed a brainstorming task in either nominal, face-to-face or computer-mediated brainstorming group conditions. Production blocking, in which brainstorming group members interfere with each other's output, was minimised, but the nominal group still out-performed the other groups. In the second experiment, subjects performed a group decision task in face-to-face and computer mediated communication conditions. social compensation in the presence of social loafing was seen to occur in the first condition, but not in the second. The paper concludes by discussing some of the consequences of both experiments for the future role of computer-mediated communication in group work.
Various interfaces exist for annotations. Little is known, however, about how such interface variations affect communication. We designed an annotation interface intended to facilitate annotation and undertook a study...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9780201309874
Various interfaces exist for annotations. Little is known, however, about how such interface variations affect communication. We designed an annotation interface intended to facilitate annotation and undertook a study to compare this interface to two commonly used alternatives. Results support the hypothesis that annotation interfaces affect the number and types of problems about which collaborators communicate. Results also suggest the need for more research on interface effects within other communicative contexts.
Sixteen subjects were observed using a simulated (Wizard-of-Oz) commenting agent in a design support system. Different commenting behavior was tested, and the overall usefulness evaluated. The interaction was logged a...
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This paper describes the results of a study evaluating the effects of computer mediation on collaboratively solving architectural design problems. Pairs of graduate design students were asked to work on a landscape ar...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9780201309874
This paper describes the results of a study evaluating the effects of computer mediation on collaboratively solving architectural design problems. Pairs of graduate design students were asked to work on a landscape architecture design problem via computer terminals. In one condition they were allowed to communicate with an electronic whiteboard and a chat-line while in the other, the chat-line was substituted with video-conferencing (real-time video and audio). The protocols were evaluated according to two models. First, they were coded according to the pattern of collaboration, distinguishing meta-planning, negotiation, evaluation, and individual work. No differences were found between the two groups when coded this way. The protocols were also coded in terms of the problem-solving content, distinguishing task-related exchanges, interface-related exchanges, low-level design exchanges, and high-level design exchanges. The results showed that in the bandwidth-limited chat-line condition, participants cut down task and interface-related as well as low-level design exchanges but attempted to maintain the same amount of high-level design exchanges. When the final designs were evaluated by professional architects, no differences were found between two conditions indicating that chat-line participants implicitly compensate for the narrower bandwidth interface.
Information manipulation and organization is becoming social in nature. The design of technologies to support social interactions must take advantage of the social skills and protocols that users already have. However...
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Information manipulation and organization is becoming social in nature. The design of technologies to support social interactions must take advantage of the social skills and protocols that users already have. However, most multi-user environments follow ad hoc implementations and do not have any social theoretical foundation. In this paper, we firstly present an analytical social context based on Goffman's interactionist model that serves as an ontology for developing multi-user environments and, secondly, we add technological value to this theoretical context by proposing an architecture of abstract classes from which multi-user applications with social features can be obtained. Finally, a research agenda is proposed to incorporate all discussed social issues into an existing OO methodological approach (OOMethod) in order to allow designers to incorporate social aspects from the very beginning of the life-cycle of multi-user applications.
The role of collaborative information technology in organizational changes continues to be a source of controversy in the CSCW literature. We report organizational changes in a Finnish computer consultancy accompanyin...
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The role of collaborative information technology in organizational changes continues to be a source of controversy in the CSCW literature. We report organizational changes in a Finnish computer consultancy accompanying the introduction and use of Lotus Notes over a period of three years. The case shows that collaborative information technologies, such as Lotus Notes, are capable of supporting a variety forms of organization. The uptake and use of Notes appeared to be more strongly influenced by aspects of the organizational context, internal social structure and the users' capabilities - in this case economic recession, changing foci of control and the role changes in the company - than by any intrinsic logic of the technology.
CSCW systems and research aim to sustain productive relationships over barriers of time and space. For the most part, however, the CSCW literature has focused on short-term relationships or collaborative episodes. Her...
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CSCW systems and research aim to sustain productive relationships over barriers of time and space. For the most part, however, the CSCW literature has focused on short-term relationships or collaborative episodes. Here, we examine in depth 26 lengthy email relationships between students in grades 7 to 12 and volunteer scientists who advised them on science projects. We illustrate the unique dynamics of these relationships, consider their technical and social demands, and discuss the potential for CSCW systems to help sustain long-term help relationships by better accommodating their needs.
Knowledge communities of all kinds have social and material practices for deciding what is known and who is to be trusted. In this paper, we address a specific kind of knowledge work, environmental planning, and a par...
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Knowledge communities of all kinds have social and material practices for deciding what is known and who is to be trusted. In this paper, we address a specific kind of knowledge work, environmental planning, and a particular form of collaboration, the sharing of measurement data sets. We are interested in how trust is created;how trustability is assessed in the arm's-length collaboration of sharing data sets;and how changes in technology interact with those practices of trust. We look at several elements of scientific practice that facilitate this sharing - communities of practice, boundary objects, and assemblages - and discuss the implications for CSCW, digital libraries, and other information-sharing applications.
We argue that it is critical to re-evaluate the way we think about artifacts while designing software systems. The notion of artifacts should include aspects of social practice and personal reflection. This new approa...
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