Designing to support impression management

H Social Sciences (General);T Technology (General)

Sherwood, Scott ; Chalmers, Matthew

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Computing Science

关键词: Impression Management, Ubiquitous Computing, Mobile, Social Networking;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/866/1/2008sherwoodphd.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

This work investigates impression management and in particular impression managementusing ubiquitous technology. Generally impression management is the process throughwhich people try to influence the impressions that others have about them. In particular,impression management focuses on the flow of information between a performer andhis/her audience, with control over what is presented to whom being of the utmostimportance when trying to create the appropriate impression.Ubiquitous technology has provided opportunities for individuals to present themselves toothers. However, the disconnection between presenter and audience over both time andspace can result in individuals being misrepresented. This thesis outlines two importantareas when trying to control the impression one gives namely, hiding and revealing, andaccountability. By exploring these two themes the continuous evolution and dynamicnature of controlling the impression one gives is explored. While this ongoing adaptation isrecognised by designers they do not always create technology that is sufficiently dynamicto support this process. As a result, this work attempts to answer three research questions:RQ1: How do users of ubicomp systems appropriate recorded data from their everydayactivity and make it into a resource for expressing themselves to others in ways that aredynamically tailored to their ongoing social context and audience?RQ2: What technology can be built to support ubicomp system developers to design anddevelop systems to support appropriation as a central part of a useful or enjoyable userexperience?RQ3: What software architectures best suit this type of appropriated interaction anddevelopers’ designing to support such interaction?Through a thorough review of existing literature, and the extensive study of several largeubicomp systems, the issues when presenting oneself through technology are identified.The main issues identified are hiding and revealing, and accountability. These are built intoa framework that acts as a reference for designers wishing to support impressionmanagement. An architecture for supporting impression management has also beendeveloped that conforms to this framework and its evolution is documented later in thethesis. A demonstration of this architecture in a multi-player mobile experience issubsequently presented.