The Social and Technological Innovations in Social Media: Video of recent panel presentations moderated by Henry Jenkins at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism

Times are changing faster than we can change the buzzwords that convey this change. Social Media. Spreadibility. Immersive Journalism.

Henry Jenkins, the Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, recently moderated a panel on the topic of social and technological innovations in social media.  If you are in the mood for reflection, the videos below of the panel presentations are worth a look.  Topics covered include on-line social networks, 3D virtual worlds, immersive journalism, social computing research, "stickiness moving to spreadable", and more.

If you are in a rush, the following article provides an overview of the panel discussions, along with key quotes from the various participants:

Annenberg panels explore "Social Media:  Platform or Provocation for Innovation?
Lara Levin, Student Writer,  USC Annenberg News   11/16/09


Session 1- Video    Social Media:  Platform or Provocation for Innovation?


Session 2 - Implicatons of Social Media for Business, Learning and Institutional Development


Description from the USC Annenberg YouTube Channel:
Nov. 5, 2009: "Implications of Social Media for Business, Learning and Institutional Development"


"As part of the week-long visit by and dialogue with Annenberg Innovator in Residence Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Dean Ernest J. Wilson III hosts a half-day conference titled "Social Media: Platform or Provocation for Innovation?" In this panel, "Implications of Social Media for Business, Learning and Institutional Development" experts from USC Annenberg and IBM will explore recent innovations and future trends in the social media space as well as industry responses to these developments. The rate of innovation in social media has been staggering in recent years. The result is a substantially different media landscape than one confronted by media organizations even five years ago. The conversation will focus on both the demands of the new media marketplace and the barriers that organizations are likely to face in attempting to meet these demands. In addition to Wladawsky-Berger, panelists include USC Annenberg faculty members Henry Jenkins, Jonathan Taplin, Dmitri Williams, Marc Cooper, executive in residence David Westphal and research fellow Nonny de la Peña. They will be joined by IBMs Steve Canepa, general manager for media and entertainment and Julia Grace, software engineer and Melissa Cefkin, ethnographer and research scientist."

A little off-topic: Video parody of the Facebook friending ritual, only in real life - (and more serious thoughts about social software apps)

Facebook in Real Life is a short parody of the Facebook "friending" ritual by theBritish comedy sketch group, Idiots of Ants



I came across this video featured in a blog post on the Core77 website, "Software: The Other "Design for Social Impact", by Gentry Underwood, after following a link from Experientia's Putting People First blog. 

Gentry Underwood works at IDEO, and he's spent some time thinking deeply about social software design and everything that surrounds it.  His article is long, but in my opinion, very important to read, even if you are not a designer or developer.  

After you finish the article, you might be interested in visiting Underwoods' new Designing Social Software website.

MyMap email visualization, related link

I came across a link to the MyMap project via Andrea Gaggioli's Positive Technology Journal, reblogged from Information Aesthetics:

"Christopher Baker is an artist whose work engages the rich collection of social, technological and ideological networks present in the urban landscape. Baker creates artifacts and situations that reveal and generate relationships within and between these networks."

Here is a link to his MyMap project website. MyMap is an e-mail visualization. It won "Best in Show" during the Spring 2007 University of Minnesoa College of Design Student Exhibition.

Below are pictures from the site:



Description from Christopher Baker's website:

"I created My Map, a relational map and alternative self portrait. My Map is a piece of custom designed software capable of rendering the relationships between myself and individuals in my address book by examining the TO:, FROM:, and CC: fields of every email in my email archive. The intensity of the relationship is determined by the intensity of the line. My Map allows me to explore different relational groupings and periods of time, revealing the temporal ebbs and flows in various relationships. In this way, My Map is a veritable self-portrait, a reflection of my associations and a way to locate myself."

Looking at MyMap, I could see the potential for use of this program on an interactive whiteboard or display. It would be good if optimised for a mobile device, too!

FYI
Visit Andrea's blog for more posts about information visualization.