Augmented Social Networks and Dadamac April 25, 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally posted to building-a-distributed-decentralized-internet@googlegroups.com -
Thanks for this link http://asn.planetwork.net/AugmentedSocialNetwork.pdf about Augmented Social Networks
I've only dipped in briefly but wanted to respond to "The ASN weaves together four distinct technical areas into components of an interdependent system. The four main elements of the ASN are: persistent online identity; interoperability between communities; brokered relationships; and public interest matching technologies. Each of these is discussed in a separate section in detail. "
I appreciate that analysis. I recognise each one of them in what we are doing on a small scale within Dadamac and it is really helpful for me to see them explained so clearly. For my own clarity of thinking I am gong to check how they relate to us - I hope people will not mind if I share that thinking here as well while i am doing it..
The four main elements of the ASN (Augmented Social Network) are:
- persistent online identity;
- interoperability between communities;
- brokered relationships;
- and public interest
We think of "persistent online identity" POI in terms of online visibility and track-record - both of Dadamac itself and of the individuals in the Dadamac community.
So far we have concentrated on the POI of John Dada, and setting up appropriate structures and systems so that his POI will develop semi-automatically as he is actually doing his work. We are developing an online space - part open, part limited access. The open part is for visibility/POI and open-knowledge-sharing - it is also part of our "office system" which we let other people dip into if they have interests that overlap one of our initiatives. The limited access area is the office system for half formed ideas, rough note that will probably be binned, references that would need explaining to outsiders, collections of links very roughly presented, and so on - things that would only cause confusion if they were shared beyond the small handful of people generating the information.
It is two years since we set up the dadamac.net space online. The idea was to bring together in one online space things (online activities and information about on-the-ground activities) that "we" (John Dada, Pamela McLean and our friends and contacts) were doing.
So far we have concentrated on collecting up information about John and his activities in North Central Nigeria. Nikki and I, in the UK, have discussed ongoing local work in Nigeria with John and his team in Nigeria for over two years, on a weekly basis. We have been designing structures and system to fit around his needs and make it easier for him to share information with actual and potential collaborators.
Now we are starting to bring in the POIs of others. I am starting to add information about my work. We are also starting to encourage a few other contacts, who are working on the ground in East Africa. They are in our "collaborators connect" group, and I am encouraging them to start developing their POI using the systems we have set up - and will keep developing - at dadamac net. If those people form Collaborators Connect find the Dadamac.net systems sufficiently friendly and useful then we will invite more of our contacts to do the same.
2 - Interoperability between communities
Yes - one of the reasons I was attracted to Coalition of the Willing was because I saw it as a community with interests that overlapped the interests and concerns of some of the Dadamac community -particularly regarding local practicilites and projects related to water security, sustainability, food security, etc. Dadamac itself can also be seen as a number of separate communities sharing information and working together. Certainly we are widely distributed geographically and people are doing their own local projects. It is just online that we are coming together as one community.
3 - Brokered relationships
Yes - that's us. The way I often describe myself is "I introduce people and help them to do useful stuff". The list of introduction that I am creating at dadamac.net here was started simply because I recognised that I kept sharing information about people by email and needed to write brief introductions each time - it made sense to write the information publicly the first time around and simply share the link from then on.http://www.dadamac.net/Community/Network
4 - Public interest matching technologies
Yes - public interest is the "useful stuff" that people do after we've introduced them - and we are doing it with a mixture of "matching technologies" and person-to-person facilitation.
Thanks again for the link
Pamela