'Aware of what?' A formal model of awareness systems that extends the focus-nimbus model

Abstract

We present a formal-model of awareness-systems founded upon the focus and nimbus model of Benford et al [2] and of Rodden [19]. The model aims to provide a conceptual tool for reasoning about this class of systems. Our model introduces the notions of aspects, attributes and resources in order to expose the communicational aspects of awareness-systems. We show how the model enables reasoning about issues such as deception and plausible deniability, which arguably are crucial for enabling users to protect their privacy and to manage how they present themselves to their social network. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.