Plans and situated actions: the problem of human-machine communication
Plans and situated actions: the problem of human-machine communication
Computerization and controversy (2nd ed.): value conflicts and social choices
Computerization and controversy (2nd ed.): value conflicts and social choices
Computing, Social Activity, and Entertainment: A Field Study of a Game MUD
Computer Supported Cooperative Work - Special issue on interaction and collaboration in MUDs
Computation and Human Experience
Computation and Human Experience
Social regulation of online multiplayer games
Social regulation of online multiplayer games
Code: Version 2.0
The intellectual challenge of CSCW: the gap between social requirements and technical feasibility
Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer Interaction
Changing places: contexts of awareness in computing
Human-Computer Interaction
Social interaction regulation in virtual web environments using the Social Theatres model
Journal of Network and Computer Applications
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More and more interaction is becoming code-based. Indeed, in online worlds, it is all there is. If software is providing a new basis for social interaction, then changing the infrastructure of interaction may necessarily change social interaction in important ways. As such, it is critical to understand the implications of code - we want to know what the use of code means for socio-technical design. In this paper, based on an ethnographic study of an online game, we examine social regulation in an online game world as a case study of socio-technical design using code. We wanted to know how changing interaction based in code conditioned use in our site. We found that code changed social regulation in three specific ways. First, code made some user actions that were socially unwanted to be immediately visible. Second, code could prevent some actions from occurring or punish users immediately. Finally, software was not able to see all action. Some user actions were too nuanced or subtle for code to catch; others were too ambiguous to place into code. Following Agre, we argue i that a "grammar of action" resulting from the use of code limits the kinds of behaviors that can be seen and dealt with. These findings suggest that there is more than just a gap between the social world and technical capabilities. There are new possibilities, tradeoffs, and limitations that must be considered in socio-technical design, and all come simultaneously.