Social Software is an expression that is used to describe the many kinds of software systems that facilitate group interaction. This is a very broad definition and we will focus on systems that allow bottom-up social interaction. In particular we will consider online systems that facilitate social interaction by supporting the exchange of information (Amazon Reviews, Facebook, Flickr) and web-based software that is designed to facilitate collaborative production (wikis, google docs). Since this is an election year it is an opportune time to explore the role of social softwarein the public sphere. In this course we will learn about social software both from technical and critical perspectives. Hands-on work in conceptualizing, designing and developing social software projects is informed by exploring the dynamics underlying social interaction, the evolution of social software and its impact on society, and through the study and use of current social sofware. Technical underpinnings for projects will be developed through hands-on learning of PHP/MySQL and several web API’s including the Twitter API.
- Teacher: Peter Ohring