Information Research Weblog

David Weinberger's JOHO page has been out of action for a little while, but now it is back. We might call JOHO a pre-blog Weblog, but for the fact that David also produces a separate Weblog. However, what I'd like to draw attention to is a couple of items in JOHO that are interesting: everything else is also interesting, but these two attracted me most.

First, David draws attention to a keynote address to the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference by Clay Shirky on groups and group interaction through 'social software'.

Second, David Weinberger's own comments on social software are worth reading. An example:

Could a term be more vague? It could be taken to include everything from email to instructions on how to hold hands. But in fact it's coming to mean something more specific: low-tech, easy-to-use tools (many of them familiar) that enable groups to decide for themselves how they will work together. But, "decide" is misleading here since it implies a high degree of explicitness. The most important aspect of social software is that it's emergent.

But wasn't 'groupware' designed for the same purpose? Is groupware now 'social software'? It shows just about the right amount of 'syllable inflation' to be the new buzzword!