With reference to JM DiMicco. “Changing Small Group Interaction through Visual Reflections of Social Behavior,” PhD Thesis, MIT Media Lab. May 2005. (link to abstract & index terms)
Link to other work of Joan Morris Di Micco
THE THESIS
abstract
[.] “This thesis proposes that technology in face-to-face settings can be used to adress the social factors that have a damaging influence on group decision-making in progress”
The differentiates by excluding a mediator. It uses “visualizations to the group {, visualizations} of individual levels of participation and turn-taking behavior.
Realtime visualization of participation levels ‘capped of’ excessive participation, whereas realtime visualization of turn-taking did not produce this change. Feedback of turn-taking in between the sessions did. Only groups with poor information sharing strategies did benefit reviewing turn-taking patterns.
“The central finding of this research is that displays of social information, viewed during or after a meeting, bring about changes in a group’s communication style, highlighting the potential for such displays to improve real-world decision-making.”
POINTS OF INTEREST
[!] In chapter 3 Visualizing behavior I find some interesting quotes:
1) “Social translucence … {is a principle} of increasing visibility of behavior and interaction patterns”
2) “By producing an automatic summary of the group interaction and allowing a group to replay it, I hypothesize that Second Messenger 2.0 can similarly assist groups in understanding and improving their interactions”
[!] Use collaboration technology within the role of a social facilitator to adress the issues of group behavior, rather than as a process or communication mediator.
[.] 1-A Theoretical grounding
“First, determine ways to increase vigilance in considering choice alternatives (Janis 1982); second, work to limit the effects of group polarization (a group’s tendency to shift towards risk or caution) (Brown 1986); and third, discover ways to increase the sharing of information between individuals (Stasser 1987).”
The idea arises that there might be a beter way towards group decision making, besides training (leadership & procedures).
[!] 1-C Mediation technology
Technology as a mediator has it’s negative side effects (trust issues, lower rates of accuracy, time consumption, declarative statements over information based statements, polarization). DiMicco suggests Media-Richness Theory, focussing on ‘the limitations of our ability to express ourselves in the current media’, rather than on our group processes.
