Webshop 2011 review: 4 days, 20 talks, 45 students, an earthquake, a hurricane and many new connections

By
Marc Smith
– September 25, 2011Posted in: Syndicated

 

 

Summer Social Webshop
on
Technology-Mediated Social Participation
University of Maryland, College Park
August 23-26, 2011

Eventful.  The 2011 Webshop at the University of Maryland was certainly that with both an earthquake and a hurricane to mark the start and end of the event.  We really moved heaven and earth at this workshop.

In 4  days, 20 talks, 45 students, an earthquake, a hurricane and many new connections – the Webshop touched on a set of related concepts, methods, and findings about ways to use communication and computation technology to help groups, neighborhoods, cities, states, and nations work collectively towards common goals.

Several years ago a program at the University of Maryland called “Webshop” (Web Workshop) was organized by Professor John Robinson and held for three consecutive Summers.  I visited and spoke at two of these events and know many people who attended or spoke at one or more and remember the event enthusiastically.   The students who attended include some of the now leading researchers in the field of social science studies of the internet.  There is an impressive alumni list.

The last Webshop was held in 2003 and many years and significant changes have occurred in the time since. Twitter, Facebook, StreetView, iPad,FourSquare, Android, Kinect, EC2, Mechanical Turk, Arduino, were all new or non-existent when the first Webshops were run.  Today we have more reason than ever to focus on the details and patterns of computer-mediated human association. Ever more people channel more of their communications with others through more digital media, often of the social kind.  A new data resource for the social sciences is growing in scale and promise: from billions of events it is possible to start to build a picture of an aggregate whole, and to start to grasp the terrain and landscape of social media.

After many years of inactivity, the Summer Social Webshop (@Webshop2011) happened again!  With the generous support of the National Science Foundation and additional assistance from Google Research, on August 23-26, 2011 at the University of Maryland, College Park, a group of students heard and engaged with more than two dozen leading researchers exploring digital social landscapes from a variety of perspectives.  Organized by a collaboration between the University of Maryland’s Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL), the College of Information Studies, the Sociology and Computer Science Department, and the Social Media Research Foundation, the event gathered students from a wide range of disciplines to get a concentrated dose of advanced efforts to gather data from social media and people’s understanding and practices around digital technologies.   Doctoral students in computer science, iSchools, sociology, communications, political science, anthropology, psychology, journalism, and related disciplines applied to attend the 4-day intensive workshop on Technology-Mediated Social Participation (TMSP).  The workshop explored the many ways social media can be applied to national priorities such as health, energy, education, disaster response, political participation, environmental protection, business innovation, or community safety.  The workshop attracted graduate students at US universities studying social-networking tools, blogs and microblogs, user-generated content sites, discussion groups, problem reporting, recommendation systems, mobile and location aware media creation, and other social media.

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Organizers

Alan Neustadtl (@smilex3md) - Sociology, University of Maryland
Jennifer Preece (@jenpre) – iSchool, University of Maryland
Marc Smith(@Marc_Smith) - Social Media Research Foundation
Ben Shneiderman (@benbendc) - Computer Science, University of Maryland
PJ Rey (@pjrey) - Sociology, University of Maryland, Student Coordinator

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Photos

Vladimir Barash (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandScott Golder (Cornell), Vladimir Barash and John Kelly (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandQ: Which is worse? Ignorance or apathy? A: I don't know and I don't care. From John Kelly (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandScott Golder and John Kelly at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandScott Golder, John Kelly, and Vladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandLise Getoor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandLise Getoor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandAmy Bruckman at Webshop 2011 at University of Maryland20110825-Webshop 2011-Group at White HouseJen Golbeck at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJen Golbeck at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMugizi Robert Rwebangira at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMugizi Robert Rwebangira at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMugizi Robert Rwebangira at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMike Nelson at Webshop 2011 at New America FoundationLee Rainie from Pew Internet at Webshop 2011 at New America FoundationTom Glaisyer at Webshop 2011 at New America FoundationWebshop 2011 at New America FoundationWebshop 2011 at New America FoundationScott Golder at the Bureaucracy Bureau - Webshop 2011Ben and Jenny at the White HouseRobert Kraut at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandAlan Neustadtl Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandAlan Neustadtl Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe and Jenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNicole Ellison at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandErwin Gianchandani at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandDelicia Greene at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandErwin Gianchandani at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe, Sarita Yardi and Scott Golder at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor presents Brian Keegan's network visualization of Wikipedia links at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCody Dunne and Vladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandEdi Chi from Google at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Bederson at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Bederson at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandLoren Terveen and Ben Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandLoren Terveen at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandPJ Rey at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Shneiderman and Jenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandOutdoors after the earthquake, Jonathan Lazar speaks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandOutdoors after the earthquake, Jonathan Lazar speaks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandOutdoors after the earthquake, Jonathan Lazar speaks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash and Scott Golder at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandDavid Sparks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCody Dunne at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandLoren Terveen at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJonathan Lazar (Towson University) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandSean Munson at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandCandice Roberts at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandBe Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJenSchradie at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandDana Rotman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandEden Litt at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandTim Hale at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandCasey Spruill at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandPJ Rey at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWill Youmans at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandAlan Neustadtl at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandEszter Hargittai at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandTom Malone and Ben Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandTom Malone at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of Maryland
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About Marc Smith

Chief Social Scientist
Marc@connectedaction.net

Connected Action Group
Marc Smith on Twitter
Marc on Delicious
NodeXL

Marc Smith is a sociologist specializing in the social organization of online communities and computer mediated interaction. He founded and managed the Community Technologies Group at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington and led the development of social media reporting and analysis tools for Telligent Systems. Smith leads the Connected Action consulting group and lives and works in Silicon Valley, California. Smith co-founded the Social Media Research Foundation (http://www.smrfoundation.org/), a non-profit devoted to open tools, data, and scholarship related to social media research.

Smith is the co-editor with Peter Kollock of Communities in Cyberspace (Routledge), a collection of essays exploring the ways identity; interaction and social order develop in online groups. Along with Derek Hansen and Ben Shneiderman, he is the co-author and editor of Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world, forthcoming from Morgan-Kaufmann in July 2010 which is a guide to mapping connections created through computer-mediated interactions.

Smith's research focuses on computer-mediated collective action: the ways group dynamics change when they take place in and through social cyberspaces. Many "groups" in cyberspace produce public goods and organize themselves in the form of a commons (for related papers see: http://www.connectedaction.net/marc-smith/). Smith's goal is to visualize these social cyberspaces, mapping and measuring their structure, dynamics and life cycles. At Microsoft, he developed the "Netscan" web application and data mining engine that allows researchers studying Usenet newsgroups and related repositories of threaded conversations to get reports on the rates of posting, posters, crossposting, thread length and frequency distributions of activity. Smith applied this work to the development of a generalized community analysis platform for Telligent, providing a web based system for groups of all sizes to discuss and publish their material to the web and analyze the emergent trends that result. He contributes to the open and free NodeXL project (http://www.codeplex.com/nodexl) that adds social network analysis features to the familiar Excel spreadsheet. A tutorial on social network analysis is evolving into a book and is freely available (http://casci.umd.edu/NodeXL_Teaching). NodeXL enables social network analysis of email, twitter, flickr, www, facebook and other network data sets.

The Connected Action consulting group (http://www.connectedaction.net) applies social science methods in general and social network analysis techniques in particular to enterprise and internet social media usage. SNA analysis of data from message boards, blogs, wikis, friend networks, and shared file systems can reveal insights into organizations and processes. Community managers can gain actionable insights into the volumes of community content created in their social media repositories. Mobile social software applications can visualize patterns of association that are otherwise invisible.

Smith received a B.S. in International Area Studies from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1988, an M.Phil. in social theory from Cambridge University in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA in 2001. He is an affiliate faculty at the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington and the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland. Smith is also a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Media-X Program at Stanford University.