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I found Pedro Custódio's Online Community Design Pattern a very good starting point to create A Social Software Pattern Language. The approach is to arrange his patterns in a map and see what fits and what is missing. The next step would be to create a wiki page for each pattern in the map.
Some Patterns to AddIn addition to voting and commenting:
In addition to friends and indirect friends there is also the following/followers category to consider (Twitter, slideshare) Related to alliveness indicator and blogs:
References
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PagesA Social Software Pattern Language 
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Comments (9)
Jan 06, 2009
tobybaier says:
Hi Matthias, nice work, although I don't think it is complete yet. If you think ...Hi Matthias,
nice work, although I don't think it is complete yet. If you think that "friends of friends" is a different pattern than "friends", why is "rating" no pattern? Can't be all.
I'm definitely interested in the "reputation" pattern. I think users in social networks gain reputation by a) stuff they do (user X has posted 10239 stories...), b) things that happens to their stuff (...these stories have been read 349439 times), and mostly c) feedback they get from other users (like on eBay or Slashdot).
Last not least, can you give some meaning to the colours? I could make something up, but I'm sure you already have something
Cheers,
Toby
Jan 08, 2009
mmprove says:
Hi Toby, thanks for your comments. Sure, the map needs to be completed. I added ...Hi Toby,
thanks for your comments. Sure, the map needs to be completed. I added a list of concepts that I like to incorporate into the language.
Regarding the colors, blue is individual, violet is groups of people, red stands for actions taken by users – everything quite informal at this stage.
-Matthias
Jan 11, 2009
mmprove says:
Thomas Vander Wal says, "A mapping of the current state of understanding in popu...Thomas Vander Wal says, "A mapping of the current state of understanding in popular social tools. The mapping is good, but the current state of things is still far from good."
Jan 20, 2009
Mike_Axelrod says:
I like it. I have to agree with Thomas but also I think it is worthwhile to sta...I like it. I have to agree with Thomas but also I think it is worthwhile to start capturing what we do know (about that works in social software.) And I haven't seen much else yet in the way of a social software pattern language. (I've been looking) So maybe this is the beginning of it. And yes, a well managed wiki might be a good tool to start writing the patterns. With a wiki the PL can evolve as the target domain evolves. Unlike a book where it is seemingly cast in stone. (pulp?) Anyway social software has a long way to go, but it is going, and quickly I might add.
Also regarding what you have so far, there may be a clustering of patterns that are within an application, such as the ones you have identified above, and yet another set of patterns that are social "inter-network" patterns. Such as cross connecting in some way from one social software application to another. For example my blog feed shows up on linkedIn via a LinkdIn/wordpress plugin and so on. There are all sorts of these clever devices showing up frequently these days. Any social software app with an API is begging for this to happen.
Jan 21, 2009
mmprove says:
Hi Mike, thanks for bringing up the intra and feed and API aspect. I will take i...Hi Mike, thanks for bringing up the intra and feed and API aspect. I will take it into consideration on developing this pattern language. It is a little bit like the highways and airports that connect cities with each other... You know, I currently ponder the idea to place images to each pattern, in the sense of Christopher Alexander. That's why the information traffic metaphors came to my mind.
cheers,
Matthias
Feb 20, 2009
mgdixon says:
What about "location" as an attribute of user profile and social object? The pr...What about "location" as an attribute of user profile and social object? The proliferation of GPS-enabled applications can provide information about where someone is at the time they make a status update. Location can either be quite static (such as the address of my home) or dynamics (where I am now). The latter case would be part of my "context", which includes location, my immediate interests, my current actions or the type of device I am using right now.
Thanks,
Mark
Feb 20, 2009
mmprove says:
Hi Mark, Location is definitely an important property because human beings are p...Hi Mark,
Location is definitely an important property because human beings are physical. In the digital world they are not. And therefore 'location' is not part of my initial considerations. But some social software patterns or objects have a location property. Dopplr comes to mind where the community fosters around travel. Another example is geotagging in flickr.
To a certain extent the group pattern can be seen as a digital equivalent to a summit of people at the same place; even more a Chat, where people interact at the same time at the same digital room.
But thanks for your comment – I keep it in mind.
Matthias
Feb 26, 2009
eincarsten says:
Take a look at this conceptual model of actions and objects. It's slides 32-35. ...Take a look at this conceptual model of actions and objects. It's slides 32-35.
http://www.slideshare.net/urschbac/what-semantic-web-means-for-information-architecture-by-claudia-urschbach-presentation
User actions might make good semantic links between patterns, getting a bit more syntax into the language.
Feb 26, 2009
mmprove says:
Hi A-Carsten, I guess I know what you mean. — A pattern language itself is...Hi A-Carsten,
I guess I know what you mean. — A pattern language itself is abstract. It just captures the paths between the patterns.
If it comes down to applying a (this?) pattern language to a project, then the actions or behaviors of the users need to be specified. Each social site will emphasizes and use different aspects of the pattern language.
-Matthias