Exploring Qualitative Sharing Practices of Social Metadata: Expanding the Attention Economy |
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| Authors: | Jörgen Skågeby |
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| Institution: | Division of Human Centered Systems, Departmet of Computer and Information Science , Link?ping University , Link?ping, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Social metadata are receiving interest from many domains, mainly as a way to aggregate various patterns in social networks. Few scholars have, however, taken the perspective of end users and examined how they utilize social metadata to enrich interpersonal communication. The results of a study of end-user practices of social metadata usage are presented in this article. Data were gathered from a variety of online forums by collecting and analyzing user discussions relating to social metadata supporting features in Facebook. Three hundred and fifteen relevant comments on social metadata usage were extracted. The analysis revealed the use of experimental profiles, clashes between work-and non-work-related social metadata usage and differences in users' social investment, causing social dilemmas. The study also resulted in developments of theory relating to social metadata and relationship maintenance. In conclusion, social metadata expand a pure “attention economy,” conveying a much wider qualitative range of social information. |
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| Keywords: | facebook gift-giving online ethnography social metadata |
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