Social Software's Evolution

CHRISTOPHER ALLEN'S tracing of social software still rings true today. He wrote a peer-reviewed online essay five years ago that I still use in third level classrooms while discussing blogging, microblogging, online collaboration and social networking. Allen's discussion meanders into spaces like including PLATO and groupware. He gives short shrift to bulletin board communities like Boards.ie and discounts the reach of the first generation of CompuServe users. I borrow Allen's timeline when reflecting on how I see online social networking evolving.

• 1940s -- Memex
• 1950s -- Professor J. A. Barnes coins the term
• 1960s -- ARPA and Licklider
• 1970s -- Office Automation, secretarial pools, word processing
• 1980s -- Groupware
• 1980s -- Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW)
• 1990s -- Blogging and RSS
• 2000s -- Microblogging, File Sharing, Photo Sharing
• 2010s -- Machine-Aware Social Software

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Christopher Allen -- "Tracing the evolution of social software"
Raefer Gabriel thinks it's hyped. Adina Levin explores why we may need a new term of reference.
Adina Levin -- "Social Software: What's New"
Social Computing Alliance is developing creative uses of a new generation of technologies with profound social implications.
Norman MacIntosh -- Social Software of Accounting and Information Systems John Wiley & Sons (June 1985) ASIN 0471905437
David Wooley -- "PLATO: The emergence of online community"

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