Brynn Marie Evans

Word of the Week (Nov 30, 2008)

brynn — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:43:42 +0000

This past week we had Thanksgiving and some horrendous terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Here are the Words of the Week for the week ending on November 30, 2008:

absolutely abundance acrimony aggravating amazing androgyny annorexic apocalyptico average blessing bobaloo bubble busy clinodactyl cold complicated cookies creosote determination disappointing ditzy doublespeak dumbo egregious elections eleemosynary employment enjoy eventful exhausted existential factious family fantabulous fearsome fine flurries fun galore gargantuan geriatric girlfriend grateful gregarious gruesome happier healthy humility inconceivable inexplicable infanticide inspirational lasts leftovers liturgical love lugubrious nachos nice orthography painful patience peace pensive peripatetic persist perturbed precocious pride psychoanalysis pyschosis quick regroup responsibilities rethinking saweeeet serendipity sex snap stagnation stressful stupendous survive terrorism thankful thanksgiving turducken turkey unappreciative waiting zany

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brynn — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:03:15 +0000

In case you’re curious what I’ve been reading…

Internet as a Social Ally

How do people use the Internet to solve problems? We find that a significant portion of online Americans turn to the Internet at times because it seems to fulfill their needs more readily and thoroughly than the people in their community network do. We present evidence of when people use the Internet versus seeking the assistance of friends and family and possible reasons for this behavior. This research demonstrates how, to what extent, when and why the Internet supplements people’s lives.

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Social interactions promote cognitive functions

brynn — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:55:23 +0000

Social relationships are a large, important, and natural part of life. Not only do we live and work among other people, social relations form the core of our culture and, some might argue, are essential to our survival. In fact, it has been suggested that our brains evolved to manage social complexity in our environments (the Machiavellian Brain Hypothesis, or Social Brain Hypothesis); and work in the cognitive neurosciences has shown that cortical areas typically associated with higher executive functions (like working memory and attention) are also responsible for social reasoning and behavior. In other words, there is evidence that social and cognitive functions may have co-evolved to the extent that they even occupy similar brain regions.

To what extent can social interactions help us with cognitive tasks?

Ybarra et al. (2008) recently performed a study exploring this very question. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the social group, the intellectual group, and the control group. Each group (run as dyads) was engaged with a task for 10 minutes before completing two cognitive function tests (of working memory and pattern matching). The social group was prompted to engage in a discussion involving privacy protection. The intellectual group performed a reading task, a crossword puzzle, and a mental rotation task. The control group sat quietly and watched Seinfeld for 10 minutes.

These researchers wanted to compare the cognitive task performance between 1) the social and control groups, and 2) the social and intellectual groups:

1) They found that the social group significantly outperformed the control group. This is an interesting comparison because the sitcom Seinfeld has many “social” elements. The major difference between these groups is that one set of participants was directly engaged, the other was passively observing. Since the social group outperformed the controls, this suggests “that face-to-face interactions or interacting with a live person is important in realizing cognitive benefits” (Ybarra et al.)

2) They also found no difference between the social and intellectual groups! Those who merely engaged in a discussion for 10 minutes showed an equal boost in cognitive performance as did those who were primed with intellectual tasks.

This is really interesting! If social interactions promoted cognitive functions, you’ve got to wonder where else in our lives are seemingly meaningless social exchanges responsible for healthy cognition? (Of course, it has yet to be shown that “social interactions” can enhance real-world cognition and practical problem solving, beyond speed-based pattern matching tasks.)

What about in online social networks? Will Twitter and Facebook prove to be useful after the fad wears off (and it still hasn’t worn off yet)? I’m particularly interested in the nature and dimensions of this “social interaction”: do the interactions have to be face-to-face? do they have to be synchronous? does the topic of conversation matter? does the user’s interest in the topic matter? What if an “exchange” never occurs, but you enter an obvious (and historically) social space, like Twitter or Facebook. Could the mere perception and presence of social actions help you be an active thinker?

As Ybarra et al. concluded:

…it may not be inappropriate to rephrase Descartes’ philosophical statement as:
“I think about and with others, therefore I am.”

Reference: O. Ybarra, E. Burnstein, P. Winkielman, M. Keller, M. Manis, E. Chan, J. Rodriguez. Mental Exercising Through Simple Socializing: Social Interaction Promotes General Cognitive Functioning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 2, 248-259 (2008).

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brynn — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:01:46 +0000

In case you’re curious what I’ve been reading…

What Happens If You’re on the Gay “Enemies List” - TIME

“Gay activists have begun publishing lists online exposing individuals and organizations who have donated money in support of Proposition 8. On AntiGayBlacklist.com, individuals who gave money toward Proposition 8 are publicized, with readers urged not to patronize their businesses or services.”

T N T — The Network Thinker: Twitter Maps

Valdis Krebs demos his InFlow Twitter map to show meaningful relationships between people and between clusters of people among his network of Twitter followers (as opposed to the only pretty TweetWheel.)

from52to48withlove :: zefrank.com

How can the reds and the blues come together for the sake and well-being of our country going forward? This is an awesome set of photo submissions that will inspire you no matter who you voted for in the US election. (How I can make use of (or include) this great work with the post-election reactions I captured from Turkers?)

Information Retrieval/Search Technologies Seminar 2008

This looks like a really interesting Seminar (organized by IBM Hailfa Research Lab), including discussions of social search, sensemaking, and discovery.

Organizational Contributors to the Yes on 8 Campaign

These organizations all contributed to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign in California. Seriously, shame on you.

Internet changes the rules for researchers

“The concern for internet research is that regulations are firmly rooted in face-to-face settings and the literature culture of paper and print,” Beddows says. “In order to relieve the problems associated with online research, there needs to be an effort made to develop methodological guidelines that take into account both the unique nature of the internet, and its relationship to the physical world.”

Energy Efficiency: Potential Fuel Savings Generated by a National Speed Limit Would Be Influenced by Many Other Factors

Review of literature and experts by a government agency. Produces a report on the myriad factors that would influence actual gas savings on a national speed limit. Annotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gao.gov%2Fproducts%2FGAO-09-153R

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Word of the week (Nov 23, 2008)

brynn — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:45:38 +0000

Again, may not have been too many eventful happenings this week. As always, things are crazy busy.

Here are the Words of the Week for the week ending on November 23, 2008:

absolutely ambulate annoyance antidisestablishmentarianism automakers bland blessed boring bothersome bovine buckeyes burp busy challenging chaotic companion confusing conglomerate crazy crepuscular cricket degrade deliverance depression desperation devastating diabolical digital dirge disappointment drudgery encephalopathy encouraging endurable facetious family fantabulous fast feline flabbergasted food football fragile frazzled freedom fundamental funny gazinto ginger-balls graceful gratitude hard healthy hectic holidays honesty hopeful hurt incredulous inevitable iriitating leftspinacious mendacity mental miscegenation morbidity nabob non outrageous paced pain patience penultimate phlegm power productive redneck releaved sequitur serpentine silent sleepy snorkeling snow soporific spongiform sporadic stupendous sublime super synchronize timbre tired tumultuous uneventful unmanagable vacation whirlwind wonderful work

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A demonstration of social search through Delver

brynn — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:34:05 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about what social search is, what it means, does it matter if we all use it to refer to different things? (I highlighted a few of the different ways it’s being used in commercial applications towards the end of this talk I gave at BarCamp in San Diego this weekend.)

In that talk, I reiterated my basic instinct that social search will be most powerful when it exploits a user’s personal social network. I care much less what the whole web feels, prefers, or is doing, than what the friends in my social network care about, prefer, and have done. (For this reason, OneRiot fails to excite me as a “social search” engine.) I mentioned that FriendFeed has an interesting model of social search, where search queries first return results from content your friends have shared into the system. Luckily Ofer Egozi commented on my blog post to remind me that Delver does this too.

I wanted to share a specific example from a search I subsequently performed on Delver that reminded me of its power as a social search engine:

I am (very lucky to be) going to Kauai over the Christmas/New Year break this year. I will stay with my parents in a rental house in Poipu for the most part, but my boyfriend and I thought it’d be fun to get away to the North part of the Island (a whole 1.5 hours away) for a few nights—only, I’ve never stayed up there (Hanalei, Princeville, etc.) so I don’t have any conception of what’s available, what’s good, or what we might like.

The short story is that I spent half-an-hour doing general searches on Google this morning only to come away with a set of B&B websites that were equally ugly (in design) and impossible to decide upon. Then I searched for “hotel kauai” in Delver; here were the results:

This obviously isn’t the most complete set of results (Ofer points out that one problem with social search is its lack of recall/coverage), but the very first result seriously caught my eye! The title of the link (”our hotel in kauai pretty much rules”) was interesting since I was struggling to find awesome-sounding places earlier in the day. Plus, the author of this link is a woman named Dana Robinson, who I don’t know, but who is apparently friends of Tantek Celik’s, who is a friend of mine. I now automatically view this link with some credibility and authority, even though I don’t know the author. Instead I’m trusting Tantek to vouch for her.

Before I searched on Delver, I had already been thinking of friends I knew who spent time on Kauai or who might know of people who had—specifically so that I could get an expert’s and also a friend’s opinion on where to stay. (And in this people-search task, I failed.) So, I am already feeling better about my quest for lodging in Kauai thanks to Dana Robinson, via Tantek, via Delver. Is this the future of search?

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brynn — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:02:14 +0000

In case you’re curious what I’ve been reading…

Obama-Biden presidential website

Change.org looks like the Obama Administration’s official website—already live!

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Word of the Week (Nov 16, 2008)

brynn — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:33:51 +0000

What the heck did happen this week? It was busy and eventful for me (CSCW conference and now BarCamp), but it must have been generically busy and eventful for everyone else too. (Defenestration showed up again—one of my favorite words of all time!)

Here are the Words of the Week for the week ending on November 16, 2008:

accomplished adventure afterthought aggression anosmia astronomy balonga beer befuddled blended broke bureaucracy busy cabinet cantankerous chillax cocoreccho constipated consumerism conundrum cool correct defenestration different diffident dingy discombobulate domain dramatic eclectic elect eliptical enmity ensconced entity eventful exhausting expect exquisite extraordinary fantabulous fastidious fear flabbergasted food god hectic hope intercourse interesting irritating judicial laryngitis leaders lugubrious mainstay melancholy nostalgia onus ordinary ostentatious patience peaceful phaethon phantasmagoria procrastination puppies redundancy repetitive reprehensible salacious salami serenity shower sick sleepy smite smoking strain stressed stugots subsidiary syllogism t-shirt thyself tired titillate turbulant unemployment valaryian varied victory volatile waiting worried

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CSCW’08 talk on Social Search

brynn — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:08:32 +0000

Today I gave a talk at the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) conference in San Diego in the Social Sensemaking track. It was called: “Towards a Model of Understanding Social Search” (in collaboration with Ed Chi).

My slides are posted here and I’d welcome any further discussion, commentary, or questions on the talk or of “social search” in general. Thanks!

Word of the Week (Nov 9, 2008)

brynn — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:09:21 +0000

This week was momentous! Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States!!

And this sentiment is reflected in this week’s words (for the week ending on November 9, 2008). CHANGE. OBAMA.

adjudication advantageous arcadian asleep aspect assiduous astounded bankruptcy barack biracial boring busily capricious change contented conundrum copacetic corupt despair discombobulate dismal duh efficacy election electoral encouraging engagement entrepreneurialism exciting exhausting extemporaneous exultant fantastic fetch flabbergasted forgiveness frustration furious gift grueling hectic historic hope illuminate imagination inderepublicrat inspired intransigence invigorated jubilant labradoodle leitmotif liege loss meticulous momentum obama obsequious optimism optimistic overwhelming patriotic pensive perplexing pithy pompous power president productive random relatives riveting satisfaction scapegoat short spontaneous stealth stressed stunned stupid suicidal superfantasic tardigrade train usa vacation volatility vulgar worry wreck

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