Making interactions visible: Tools for social browsing

Abstract

The authors describe the problem of 'community myopia': a lack of awareness of people and resources that might assist members of a community to carry out tasks. They present a prototype social browser in two stages: a basic computer based social network diagram using off-the-shelf application software and an advanced social browser using Netmap ®, a proprietary analytic and visualization software tool. Tradeoffs between functional capability and ease and pleasure in use are discussed.