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Tracing the Evolution of Social Software

Posted by michael on from the alacrity-fitzhugh dept.

ChristopherRayAllen writes "I have just posted an article on the history of terminology associated with collaboration software in my Life With Alacrity blog: The term 'social software', which is now used to define software that supports group interaction, has only become relatively popular within the last two or more years. However, the core ideas of social software itself enjoy a much longer history, running back to Vannevar Bush's ideas about 'memex' in 1945, and traveling through terms such as Augmentation, Groupware, and CSCW in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. By examining the many terms used to describe today's 'social software' we can also explore the origins of social software itself, and see how a very real life cycle centers around the use of technical terminology."

5 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. What about us? by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article seems to have skipped over the entire blog culture as being a social use of software... one that we are playing a part in right now.

    Slashdot might be called a "news site", but in technical format it's run as a blog where a select few chosen by the owner of the sute post stories, then we all chime in with our comments. That's exactly how a "blog" is defined...

    And you can't say this doesn't change how news is processed in our world. Just look at all the trouble Dan Rather is having with blogs teaming up pointing out his recent mistakes...

    1. Re:What about us? by coconutstudio · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Another huge area is online gaming. People can interact with each other virtually in Everquest universe that seems to parallel the reality.

      --
      http://www.up0.com/
  2. Usenet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe I'm just old, but how can you completely ignore Usenet?

  3. Do not forget about the classic BBS. by Agent+Green · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now, THAT was social software, used in many cases for social purposes. While they were not the collaboration tools and such that we use today, they did allow for interaction and sharing in a way that no other service could.

    Similar to the OSS movement, most of the BBS community was run by volunteers who spent their own time and money to make their systems possible.

    Those are days that I will look back on with mostly smiles and happy thoughts.

    --
    // Agent Green (Ian / IU7 / KB1JQO)
    // IEEE 802.3: All 10base Are Belong To Us
  4. Personally I like anti-social software. by yecrom2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like the old saying goes:
    "Unix is very user friendly. It just picks it's friends very carefully."

    m.