Week7

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Week 7

Contents

[edit] Video

NoSO Project

[edit] Week 7


[edit] Signaling and the Art of Impression

[edit] Goffman's Lens

  • In the presence of others, we seek information/cues about these individuals
    • We glean cues from aspects of appearance and correlate them to what we know
    • Crucial facts lie beyond the appearance - we can only discover these indirectly
  • Identity as performance
    • The expression one gives
    • The expression one gives off
      • Can we explain the distinction between the two?
  • "Calculated" identity
    • It is in our interest to "control the conduct of others" through impressions
    • Sometimes our presentation evokes presentations, sometimes it belies us
  • Categories of impressions
    • Impressions that are easy to create (statements, etc)
    • Unstated signals (expressions, gestures)
      • We compare the two as a validity check
        • Other validity checks - engineered disruption - practical jokes, decontextualized stories

[edit] Signaling Theory

  • Communications Theory: Sender and Receiver
    • In communications, senders and receivers seek to achieve mutually agreeable understanding of the message.
    • Signals are a very important part of this sense-making process
  • Signals: characteristics
    • Has a definite form
    • Refers to something other than itself
    • Can be recognized as a sign
  • Assessment of Signals: two types
    • Assessment Signals: Requires a sense of validity in the signal - lifting heavy objects, a stag's horns
    • Conventional Signals: Sender doesn't necessarily possess the signal's traits - wearing a t-shirt, etc.
  • Validity in signals
    • Cost of production: Many assessment signals difficult to produce
    • Punishment for deception: How communities respond to non-normative behaviors

[edit] Donath

Ref: Signaling Theory

  • Signals in Usenet - How do we receive, verify and make meaning of signals in CMC?
    • Voice and Language
      • One can write "I am female", how sustainable (expressions given off)
      • Is "playing" a gender an assessment signal?
      • Is understanding norms in CMC an assessment signal? (i.e. Noobs vs. Vets)
      • Language as identity signal - voice becomes known over time.
    • Signature as Identity Signal
      • Sigs act as credentials to signal legitimacy
      • Sigs can have standard or in-group references, one must negotiate the space to understand them
        • From header to sig, we're reading the message looking for cues to signal deception
  • Deception
    • Trolling, Impersonation
    • Any consequences of deception in SNS?

[edit] Donath and boyd

Ref: Signaling Theory

  • Q: Are friendship links in SNS an assessment signal?
  • Public display of connection is a signal of the reliability of identity claims
    • Dating vs. SNS
      • Low cost to misrepresent in pseudononymous dating world
      • High cost to misrepresent when the profile is directly tied to identity
    • Power of a social group is reputation -> Not the conversation with the subject, but the conversation around the subject.
  • Many SNS have discussion groups - participants seen in context, SNS provides accountability - do you agree? Does having discussion in a SNS change the nature of the interaction? How?
  • Feld's Foci
    • We structure social experiences around a "foci" which we often think of as context -
    • A social net structure around the office, or a social net structured around our block, for example.
    • Social nets bring these foci together - sometimes with negative implications.

[edit] Lampe, Ellison and Steinfeld

3 Theoretical areas

  • Signaling Theory
  • Common-ground theory - We establish common terms of reference to enhance mutual understanding
  • Transaction cost theory - Sharing of certain elements produce shared referents, lead to norm-formation.

RQ - Does sharing certain profile elements in FB lead to more friends (the "successful" outcome) Outcome: Image

[edit] Class Exercise

4 Groups, explore the following questions:

  • How do you read a Social Network (Facebook, Myspace, etc) profile?
  • How do you assess validity of a profile?
  • How do you make meaning of "known-falsehoods" - i.e. like friends saying they are married to each other?
  • What punishments do communities induce for deceiving in online community?

[edit] Presentations

[edit] Quick Links