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Evolution of Social Software
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The term ‘Social software’ evolved as a popular term in the recent past, used for defining programs that support group interaction. Though this terminology doesn’t have a long enough history, the fundamental ideas of creating programs supporting group interaction is something very old, dating back to Vannevar Bush in 1945. In an influential article called ‘As We May Think’, Vannevar conceived of a device that could act as an enlarged intimate memory supplement, mechanized in a way that it may be referred to with exceeding speed and flexibility. The device that Vannevar conceived, he named it as ‘memex’ that is synonymous to today’s ‘Personal Computer’. However, Vannevar’s ideas on the future of computing were discarded then, as it was way to ahead of his time. Vannevar also mentioned how the memex could further benefit groups in his same seminal article. Since then, there was no reference of computers being used to collaborate until 1960s. In 1958, US formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in response to the launching of Sputnik by the USSR. Dr. J.C.R. Licklider headed ARPA and within 18 months the first successful satellite was developed. Dr. J.C.R. Licklider soon changed ARPA to offer more research grants to universities. His efforts resulted in universities offering their first Ph.D. in Computer Science. This further led to ARPANET – commercially time-sharing system subsequently leading to Internet. Licklider wrote in 1968 in The Computer as a Communication Device. There he analyzed the possibility of facilitating communication among people without bringing them physically together in one place. Licklider not only speaks of communication as a device, he also explains the methods of collaboration and the functioning of people in groups. In 1962, Doug Engelbart, inspired by the vision of Vannevar Bush, set up a research lab. The objective of this reach lab was to create an elaborate hypermedia system called NLS (oNLine System). In fact this was the first successful implementation of hypertext, though the term ‘hypertext’ was not invented then. In his seminal work, Augmented Human Intellect: A conceptual Framework, Engelbart briefed on the basic idea of augmentation. He referred to ‘augmenting human intellect’ being capable of increasing man’s capacity to approach a complex problem situation and find a quick and comprehensive solution. Engelbart refers to ‘augmentation’ as a way of life “in an integrated domain where hunches, cut-and-try, intangibles, and the human 'feel for a situation' usefully co-exist with powerful concepts, streamlined terminology and notation, sophisticated methods, and high-powered electronic aids." With the passage of time this term evolved to become ‘office augmentation’ as Englebart preferred the term ‘augmentation’ to ‘automation’ as automation was seemingly de-personalizing. This resulted in IBM coining a new terminology called ‘office automation’ to broaden the scope of their products to all aspects of the office, so they coined the term 'office automation'. Eventually, the term evolved as ‘groupware’ in 1980s when Robert Johansen wrote the best-selling business book Groupware: Computer Support for Business Teams. Soon the term was corrupted with Lotus Notes and Microsoft realizing their products with specific features and calling them ‘groupware’. By the year 1990, the term ‘groupware’ was slowly getting replaced with ‘social software’. Clay Shirky who organized a ‘social network summit’ in the year 2002 coined this term to gather together all uses of software that supported interacting groups, even if the interaction was offline, e.g. Meetup, nTag, etc. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Written by Lee Asher of Eclipse Domain Services and Auction Super Sites.Lee is also the developer of MagniBar, a software tool that everyone has a use for and7 Dollar Dazzlers where we pay All our affiliates 100% Commission on all their sales. Have a Great day, regards Lee Asher |
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