Social networks and the zombie apocalypse

Today I read a short story called Feature Development for Social Networking, by Ben Rosenbaum, which tells two parallel stories of the use and development of social networking features during the early stages of a zombie apocalypse. It was fascinating, as it was a very accurate portrayal of how these things actually go down in software feature development - the arguments about how a feature will be implemented (who can use the feature; precedents to justify certain aspects of the feature; what the feature can be integrated with; arguments about the approval process), and the rush to get the feature in at the right time are all very reminiscent of my experiences as a software developer.

The story also very elegantly shows the way a social networking site straddles the virtual and physical. Social network sites don't exist in a separate "cyberspace" - they are attached to many points in the real world, and effectively act as information shortcuts between those points. Most of those points in the real world are people, but more and more social networking sites link to places and objects, as we like* venues and organizations, and check in to locations. The social networking site is a bridge between different parts of the real world, more so than many other online experiences. The story reflects this: the feature being developed is done so in response to a real-world event - the zombie apocalypse - and the people reacting to the zombie apocalypse through the social networking tools are using it to communicate these real-world events and interactions they've had.

As a last note, when I was trying to dig up the story (I read it earlier today) to link to on this blog, I found Zombie Friends, and zombie themed social network, and Zombie Passions, a zombie themed dating site. O brave new world, that has such people in't!

* I've italicized these worlds to indicate I'm referring to the social networking meaning of them; we're past the point where wrapping quotes around them makes sense, as they're no longer a novelty; in some places, the social networking version is the primary meaning of these terms.

New avenues

I'm sure you, the frequent reader of this blog, are now well aware that I'm not getting the wagonloads of data that I'd been hoping for, which is leading to some disappointment on my part. This hasn't escaped my supervisor's notice, and we've started discussing a Plan B - how I can turn what I'm doing into a viable PhD even if the usage never takes off.

The first part will be to finally sit down and conduct a series of interviews with students - this has been part of the plan from the start, but I've been waiting for the right time - I was hoping to catch the first wave of usage, and interview students just as usage is starting to seriously take off. But it's looking like a sensible move to interview a group of students sooner rather than later, so I'm going to start work on that early in the new year, with the aim of interviewing 8 students in Q1 2014.

The next thing I'll do differently was suggested by my supervisor, and it seems like a nifty idea. The plan is to start doing some research into what other projects are out there doing similar things. Other people are bound to have had similar ideas, and by comparing across a range of projects I'll have some interesting things to talk about for my thesis, but I might also find some important insights that I've missed, and that might help my project. I'll be searching for similar projects, and I guess categorizing them in a range of dimensions of similarity to my project:

• social networks for learning
• embedded social networks in LMS
• custom-built social tools
• linking student interaction to learning objectives
• university student participants
• medical elearning
• resource sharing (vs. discussion, etc.)
• self starting, voluntary network (as opposed to required and assessable)
• low/no staff participation

 I'll search for these project through the literature, through web searching, and if necessary through word of mouth. Once I've found a few (maybe half a dozen or a dozen), and gathered as much information as possible, I can interview the creators of the system to discuss their ideas and how successful they were. To what did they attribute the success or failure of their network? What pedagogical and design ideas lead to the creation of the network? What did they have to change?

This search should result in some interesting ideas. At worst, it's an interesting small chapter in my thesis, and my main research plan will come good and I'll have some solid data to look at. At best, it will be the core of my thesis, with my DBR work being one of a number of examples that I use, and one I have particular insight into.