Unplatformed Design: A Model for Appropriating Social Media Technologies for Coordinated Participation

Abstract

Using existing social media technologies as a resource for design offers significant potential for sustainable and scalable ways of coordinating participation. We look at three exemplar projects in three distinct domains that have successfully coordinated participation through the configuration and augmentation of existing social media technologies: participatory future forecasting, participatory health research, and connectivist learning. In this paper we conceptualise social media technologies as material for design, that is, as a raw material with which coordinated participation is realized. From this we develop a model that proposes four material qualities of social media technologies, morphology, role, representation of activity and permeability, and point to how they can be productively employed in the design of coordination of participation.

Processes of Proliferation

“…It seems there is no single characteristic that would make investment in infrastructure worthwhile across such differences, especially in a context where there is very little money for development. In line with what has been noted in prior research on a variety of collaborative activities, ranging from local initiatives [9,29,42] to large-scale online collaborations [5,53], the outfits we looked at were already using freely available digital tools and platforms, appropriating technologies with global reach to serve local ends. In that case, what can we learn about CSCW and what the digital does and can do?…”

“…A focus on processes of proliferation invites shifting analytical and design concerns from centralised platforms towards unplatformed design [29] and the artifact ecologies [9,47] that collaborative initiatives rely on over time. We note an irony in that initiatives which themselves resist scaling rely on and benefit from scalable systems like Facebook.…”

Integrating Social Media into the Design Process

“…Analysis of social media has been used in the design process. Studies in industry and academia are adopting social media to replace or use along with traditional research methods like focus groups, ethnography, and interviews during users' research on the front end of the design lifecycle [15,27]. Due to the variety of issues and criticisms of conducting classic research methods (e.g., interviews) to acquire data [28], namely time-consuming scheduling, misunderstanding created between interviewers and interviewees, and potential of observer's bias, social media technologies have attracted significant attention among HCI researchers and designers.…”

“…Due to the impacts of social media on human behaviors and social interactions [24], it is becoming an essential venue for research and design interventions. Using existing social media platforms as a design resource has a lot of potential for long-term and scalable coordinating participation [15] and gathering unrestricted expressions and reactions of users. HCI researchers and designers leveraged social media platforms as a rich medium to conduct research, and design practices [2,10].…”

“…HCI researchers and designers leveraged social media platforms as a rich medium to conduct research, and design practices [2,10]. Prior studies represented the potential of social media in conducting online focus groups [15], influencing topical, emotional, and rhetorical behavior in a broad audience [23], gathering user perceptions and trends [7,14,18], and inspiring ideas for future design [21].…”