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Week 1
Jan. 16th: Course Introduction: The Social Science Perspective on Information and Information Technology
Johnson, Jim. 1988. “Mixing Humans and Nonhumans Together: The Sociology of a Door-Closer.” Social Problems 35:298-310. ![[PDF]](http://courses.ischool.berkeley.edu/i203/s07/wp-content/acrobat_pdf_icon_sm.gif){kind=icon}
Chapter 1 in McGinn, Robert. 1991. Science, Technology and Society. NY, NY: Prentice Hall.
Jan. 18th: The Sociology of Information
Ryan, Dan. 2006. “Getting the Word Out: Notes on the Social Organization of Notification.” Sociological Theory 24:228-254.
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6 Comments Add your own
1. daniela | January 18th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
The term “notification” is strange in reference to the social passing of information. It somehow makes me more aware of the recipient of the information, the notifyee, than the sender. It’s interesting that Ryan sees the needs and expectations of information as critical to the notification process. In a sense this does put more weight on the importance of the notifiyees in the process of notification. Tolerance and deviant notification also seem determined by the recipient rather than the sender. Although, Ryan also notes it is dangerous to constrain these roles in “over-socialized conception” of the process. It’s still interesting to place the terminology he uses in the context of this formal relationship.
January 18th, 2007 at 12:19 pm |WordPress database error: [Table 'i203.is203_users' doesn't exist]
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SELECT * FROM is203_users WHERE ID = '1' LIMIT 12. mcd | January 22nd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I would resist calling, to borrow Coye’s term, “Johnson’s” groom and the closer “interchangeable.” What I found interesting in Latour’s article was the social role played by the closer because of the person it replaces, and the way others react to it. Without basic agency of its own, it affects social behavior, e.g. in that those walking through doors (specifically institutional doors that commonly operate with closers) assume that the door will close behind them, necessitating a note.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:13 pm |WordPress database error: [Table 'i203.is203_users' doesn't exist]
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SELECT * FROM is203_users WHERE ID = '1' LIMIT 13. Sean_Carey | January 22nd, 2007 at 10:14 pm
In the text “Getting the word out” I am intrigued with the notion of social communication etiquette. Seems to me that technology changes so quickly it is hard to standardize social communication etiquette. Although Dan Ryan writes that newcomers must be taught the social communication etiquette, I feel that the etiquette is largely based off of the etiquette already present within our society, and therefore not really necessary to “teach” to newcomers.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:14 pm |WordPress database error: [Table 'i203.is203_users' doesn't exist]
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SELECT * FROM is203_users WHERE ID = '1' LIMIT 14. bindiya | January 23rd, 2007 at 1:45 am
In the “Getting the word out” article, the concept of membership of any community or relationship implying having the responsibility to notify is interesting. Notification is nothing but information flow, and that is the basis of any social relationship. In a sense notification patterns are good signals of the status of social relationships and they change as relationships evolve. I agree with Dan Ryan when he mentions that it is important to be aware of the notifyee’s expectations, prior knowledge and idiosyncrasies. I think an individuals’ discretion while “notifying” is of utmost importance in some cases. It can be the differentiating factor between maintaining or degrading a social/professional standing, relationship etc. Discretion not only about the content but also the medium of information flow is significant.
198f January 23rd, 2007 at 1:45 am |WordPress database error: [Table 'i203.is203_users' doesn't exist]
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SELECT * FROM is203_users WHERE ID = '1' LIMIT 15. mattchew | January 24th, 2007 at 1:23 am
In the Jim Johnson article, Latour contends that sociology encompasses the study of non-human actors as well as the associations between humans. The gist of the argument appears to be that nonhuman have societal roles that can be described in terms of what humans would have to do to fulfill the same function were the nonhuman not present. The use of the term “non-human” gives rise to some questions. Every example of non-human given in the article is an artifact (i.e. something non-living made by humans), but the term non-human also encompasses non-crafted, even living things. Was use of non-human rather than artifact intentional? If so, one can apply the author’s argument to living beings such as oxen pulling a plow, or a cat assigned the role of catching mice. So does sociology then encompass the the associations between humans and domesticated animals? If so, does it also apply to those associations we have with living beings which do not have assigned roles that can be described in terms of work performed by skilled humans? Does sociology include the relationship between people and mosquitos? The role of disease-carrying insects cannot be described in terms of human work, but the societal reaction to them can be, both in terms of work required for abatement and medical treatment. Or does the man-mosquito relationship not fall under the rubric of sociology because in that relationship it is the mosquito doing the defining by assigning us the role of food?
January 24th, 2007 at 1:23 am |WordPress database error: [Table 'i203.is203_users' doesn't exist]
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SELECT * FROM is203_users WHERE ID = '1' LIMIT 16. Bernt Wahl | February 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm
The Well and Its Influence on PlanetBMUG
Reading about the Well brings back memories. The site was a pioneer in building online communities. It allowed people to post messages, share stories and read information. By today’s standard it was slow, 300 baud or slower. It was something that sounded interesting where friends were plugged-in, engaged and involved with but I never joined. The reason was the costs, even though it was low (I was a student) and I did not have a computer with a phone that could be tied up to send data. However it would impact a group across the bay that in many ways would emulate the Well in several ways.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm |In fall 1984 a group of Berkeley students started the Macintosh called BMUG. The club meet weekly in 145 Dwinnell on the UC Berkeley campus. The group grew to around 300 members within a few months and around Christmas time when 1200 Baud modems became available for our Macs and the idea of a BBS (Bulletin Board System) sprang up. The system was modeled after the Well. Included in your $45 yearly membership you had access to a place you could view and post jobs, computer for sale, or other general information. May of the things that the Well was doing. With-in a few years BMUG would attract 13,000 members from all over the world. Many who only knew each other from PlanetBMUG the online community. Today that dream lives on as PlanetMUG http://www.planetmug.org.
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