development of social codes around a technology
Hello AoIR list, I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the development of social codes around new technologies, specifically technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they ever stabilize? Any resources or places to look would be most helpful. Thanks, Amanda Lenhart MA Candidate Communications, Culture and Technology Georgetown University & Pew Internet & American Life Project
Hi, Here are two references I have read so far. Hope it is useful to you. Martin, M. (1991). Chapter 6: The culture of telephone. In "/Hello, Central? Gender, technology and culture in the formation of telephone systems/" (pp. 140-166): McGill-Queen's University Press. Fisher, C. S. (1992). Chapter 3: Educating the public. In /"America calling: a social history of the telephone to 1940"/ (pp. 60-85): University of California Press. Sincerely, Chheng Hong Ho ------- Chheng-Hong Ho graduate student Department of communication State University of New York at Buffalo http://schoolof.info/rolcoco email: cho5@buffalo.edu Amanda Lenhart ??:
Hello AoIR list,
I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the development of social codes around new technologies, specifically technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they ever stabilize?
Any resources or places to look would be most helpful.
Thanks,
Amanda Lenhart MA Candidate Communications, Culture and Technology Georgetown University & Pew Internet & American Life Project
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Amanda, There's a book called "When old technologies were new" but I can't remember the author right now. Also, I know that "hello" used to be considered vulgar and rude to use on the phone because it's originally a duck hunting shout, at least according to Naomi Baron. Baron, N. (2002). Who sets email style? Prescriptivism, coping strategies, and democratization of access. Information Society, 18(5), 403-413. Hope this helps a little. Ulla ---------------------------------------------------- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication Rutgers University 4 Huntington Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Email: bunz@scils.rutgers.edu ---------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Amanda Lenhart Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:14 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology Hello AoIR list, I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the development of social codes around new technologies, specifically technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they ever stabilize? Any resources or places to look would be most helpful. Thanks, Amanda Lenhart MA Candidate Communications, Culture and Technology Georgetown University & Pew Internet & American Life Project _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org/airjoin.html
Amanda, Carolyn Marvin is the author of When Old Technologies were New. Karen E. Riggs Director School of Telecommunications RTV 202 9 S. College St. Ohio University Athens, OH 45701 740.593.4862 On Jan 27, 2005, at 4:53 PM, Ulla Bunz wrote:
Amanda, There's a book called "When old technologies were new" but I can't remember the author right now.
Also, I know that "hello" used to be considered vulgar and rude to use on the phone because it's originally a duck hunting shout, at least according to Naomi Baron. Baron, N. (2002). Who sets email style? Prescriptivism, coping strategies, and democratization of access. Information Society, 18(5), 403-413.
Hope this helps a little.
Ulla
---------------------------------------------------- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication Rutgers University 4 Huntington Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Email: bunz@scils.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Amanda Lenhart Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:14 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology
Hello AoIR list,
I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the development of social codes around new technologies, specifically technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they ever stabilize?
Any resources or places to look would be most helpful.
Thanks,
Amanda Lenhart MA Candidate Communications, Culture and Technology Georgetown University & Pew Internet & American Life Project
_______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Here's Amazon.com's listing..........Alex Kuskis When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century by Carolyn Marvin "Electrical professionals were the ambitious catalysts of an industrial shift from steam to electricity taking place in the United States and Western Europe at the..." (more) Editorial Reviews Product Description: In the history of electronic communication, the last quarter of the nineteenth century holds a special place, for it was during this period that the telephone, phonograph, electric light, wireless, and cinema were all invented. In When old Technologies Were New, Carolyn Marvin explores how two of these new inventions--the telephone and the electric light--were publicly envisioned at the end of the nineteenth century, as seen in specialized engineering journals and popular media. Marvin pays particular attention to the telephone, describing how it disrupted established social relations, unsettling customary ways of dividing the private person and family from the more public setting of the community. On the lighter side, she describes how people spoke louder when calling long distance, and how they worried about catching contagious diseases over the phone. A particularly powerful chapter deals with telephonic precursors of radio broadcasting--the "Telephone Herald" in New York and the "Telefon Hirmondo" of Hungary--and the conflict between the technological development of broadcasting and the attempt to impose a homogenous, ethnocentric variant of Anglo-Saxon culture on the public. While focusing on the way professionals in the electronics field tried to control the new media, Marvin also illuminates the broader social impact, presenting a wide-ranging, informative, and entertaining account of the early years of electronic media. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195063414/qid=1106865684/sr=2-1/ref=... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ulla Bunz" <bunz@scils.rutgers.edu> To: <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:53 PM Subject: RE: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology
Amanda, There's a book called "When old technologies were new" but I can't remember the author right now.
Also, I know that "hello" used to be considered vulgar and rude to use on the phone because it's originally a duck hunting shout, at least according to Naomi Baron. Baron, N. (2002). Who sets email style? Prescriptivism, coping strategies, and democratization of access. Information Society, 18(5), 403-413.
Hope this helps a little.
Ulla
---------------------------------------------------- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication Rutgers University 4 Huntington Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Email: bunz@scils.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Amanda Lenhart Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:14 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology
Hello AoIR list,
I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the development of social codes around new technologies, specifically technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they ever stabilize?
Any resources or places to look would be most helpful.
Thanks,
Amanda Lenhart MA Candidate Communications, Culture and Technology Georgetown University & Pew Internet & American Life Project
_______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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I think it is Caroline Marvin. Andrew. On 28/01/2005, at 8:53 AM, Ulla Bunz wrote:
Amanda, There's a book called "When old technologies were new" but I can't remember the author right now.
Also, I know that "hello" used to be considered vulgar and rude to use on the phone because it's originally a duck hunting shout, at least according to Naomi Baron. Baron, N. (2002). Who sets email style? Prescriptivism, coping strategies, and democratization of access. Information Society, 18(5), 403-413.
Hope this helps a little.
Ulla
---------------------------------------------------- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication Rutgers University 4 Huntington Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Email: bunz@scils.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Amanda Lenhart Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:14 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] development of social codes around a technology
Hello AoIR list,
I'm at work on a MA thesis, and I'm searching for some literature on the development of social codes around new technologies, specifically technologies of communication. Particularly I'm looking for some historic context--how did/do things like "phone manners" evolve? How do we learn what's "rude" or "polite"? How did we decide that all caps in email means "yelling"? How localized is the development of these kinds of rules or codes? And are these codes constantly in flux or do they ever stabilize?
Any resources or places to look would be most helpful.
Thanks,
Amanda Lenhart MA Candidate Communications, Culture and Technology Georgetown University & Pew Internet & American Life Project
_______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://aoir.org/airjoin.html
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Andrew -- andrewwenn@mac.com
Amanda, if you want to consider intercultural / comparative aspects, this might be interesting: Sugimoto, Taku, and James A. Levin: Multiple Literacies and Multimedia: A Comparison of Japanese and American Uses of the Internet. In: Hawisher, Gail, E., and Cynthia L. Selfe (eds): Global Literacies and the World-Wide Web: Postmodern Identities. Routledge 2000. Isa ***************************************************** Isa Ducke PhD Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin / Research Fellow Sozialwissenschaften / Social Science German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) 3-3-6 Kudan-Minami, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0074 , JAPAN Tel: +81-3-3222-5077 (reception) -5468 (Direct) FAX +81-3-3222-5420 e-mail: ducke@dijtokyo.org http://www.dijtokyo.org *****************************************************
Well, Amanda - Are you looking at the hacker context - if so, Eric Raymond explains the history of some hacker words. But the USENET community, as far as I know, is where the all caps as YELLING comes from. Here's some core (old) documents on the formation of hacker communities. Hafner is good on the community aspects of the WELL, not sure about the rules of interaction - such as you could yell at people in person but not broadcast it to the whole community. Raymond, E. (1998). The new hacker's dictionary. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press. Levy, S. (1984). Hackers: Heros of the computer revolution. New York, Dell. Hafner, K. (1997). "The world's most influential online community (and it's not AOL), the epic saga of the Well." WIRED May(5.05): 98-142. She wrote this up later in a book. Diana Hacker (yes that's her name) had a pocket manual on Email style - I own the book, couldn't find it on amazon. One of her books is called _Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age_ It's about proper email citation but informal rules about using email have been published in these style guides. The 'Netiquette' websites abound. As I understand it, Brandon Kehoe was the first to put some of the informal rules into style guides. Finally his style guide for USENET made it into print after making the rounds electronically for many years. I think I first saw it in 1986. Kehoe, B. T. (1994). Zen and the art of the Internet: A Beginner's guide to the Internet, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall. Of course, FAQs were initially designed to help newbies not mess things up, again from USENET. Here's another ref on USENET: Lueg, C. and D. Fisher, Eds. (2003). From Usenet to CoWebs: Interacting with Social Information Spaces. London, Springer-Verlag. Cheers, Denise ===== Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html
Phone manners are highly culture specific, so you may want to explore what goes on in some other languages (e.g. the Romance languages). There's also the issue of register (office/home), but again, office phone cultures are very different around the world. All caps - I understand it was Fred Brooks who introduced lower case to IBM computers, and it wasn't that long ago that lower case was not available on many computer systems (at least on screen displays e.g. Apple II Apple Writer). So the whole mixed case/all caps thing must be very recent. And email has been around for a surprisingly long time (check out the history of email in academia, which indicates that email must have been around before the intro of lower case in screen displays on many systems). It's worth checking out word processing literature too (rather than tech literature on this), as word processing (with dedicated word processors) really had quite a separate development path until recently. Louise
participants (10)
-
Alexander Kuskis -
Amanda Lenhart -
Andrew Wenn -
Chheng Hong -
Denise N. Rall -
Gilbert B. Rodman -
Isa Ducke -
Karen Riggs -
Louise Ferguson -
Ulla Bunz