On the one hand it discusses the main digital photographic practices of a heavy user group, and second, it describes the way the group is constituted and formed as a collective identity performing those practices. Two critical conclusions are proposed: the traditional role of snapshot and amateur photography is changing, from a memory device to a connectivity practice and from having a primary social cohesion role to be a key element in new groups formation. And second, that the formation of a “social network” goes beyond the specific technological platforms of mediation (flickr, Facebook, twitter, etc.). Although the studied group was born in flickr, their consolidation requires several instances online and offline where digital imagery practices plays a key role on it.

Intertextuality is an important characteristic of the way we use language in social communities. The meanings we make through texts, and the ways we make them, always depend on the currency in our communities of other texts we recognize as having certain definite kinds of relationships with one another. We can make meanings through the relations between two texts; meanings that cannot be made within any single text.

Geertz pide que nos fijemos en el hecho de que, por más que el antropólogo vaya a buscar sus temas a escarpadas playas de Polinesia o a un llano amazónico, es la participación en el mundo de las bibliotecas, las pizarras y los seminarios lo que hace que la antropología se lea, se publique, se reseñe y se cite; pero se concentra en el análisis textual de sus colegas. Paul Rabinow señala la necesidad de trascender la hermenéutica textual con estudios de las relaciones de poder académico, del modo en que las “comunidades interpretativas” establecen en cada periodo la legitimidad de los enunciados; pero las condiciones sociointitucionales en que se realiza la producción antropológica no se convierten en parte de su investigación

se constata que el uso de los recursos sociales varía en función de dos factores: la trayectoria del grupo y el momento en el que se encuentre. En general, durante la etapa inicial y la final, encontramos mayor referencia a elementos personales o informales, mientras que en la de desarrollo los elementos sociales se vinculan en mayor proporción a la tarea a realizar.
Paralelamente a las preguntas de investigación planteadas, los resultados obtenidos evidencian la importancia de la comunicación en los grupos colaborativos virtuales. Ya Gunawardena (1995, en Gros y Silva, 2006) explicaba que las experiencias negativas que había observado en el aprendizaje colaborativo se debían mucho más a problemas de comunicación que a los aspectos técnicos o plataformas usadas.

Putnam (2000) distinguishes between bridging and bonding social capital. The former is linked to what network researchers refer to as “weak ties,” which are loose connections between individuals who may provide useful information or new perspectives for one another but typically not emotional support (Granovetter, 1982). Alternatively, bonding social capital is found between individuals in tightly-knit, emotionally close relationships, such as family and close friends. After briefly describing the extant literature on these two forms of social capital and the Internet, we introduce an additional dimension of social capital that speaks to the ability to maintain valuable connections as one progresses through life changes. This concept, “maintained social capital,” permits us to explore whether online network tools enable individuals to keep in touch with a social network after physically disconnecting from it.
(…)
Our empirical results contrast with the anecdotal evidence dominating the popular press. Although there are clearly some image management problems experienced by students as reported in the press, and the potential does exist for privacy abuses, our findings demonstrate a robust connection between Facebook usage and indicators of social capital, especially of the bridging type. Internet use alone did not predict social capital accumulation, but intensive use of Facebook did.

The strong linkage between Facebook use and high school connections suggests how SNSs help maintain relations as people move from one offline community to another. It may facilitate the same when students graduate from college, with alumni keeping their school email address and using Facebook to stay in touch with the college community. Such connections could have strong payoffs in terms of jobs, internships, and other opportunities. Colleges may want to explore ways to encourage this sort of usage.

Online social network sites may play a role different from that described in early literature on virtual communities. Online interactions do not necessarily remove people from their offline world but may indeed be used to support relationships and keep people in contact, even when life changes move them away from each other. In addition to helping student populations, this use of technology could support a variety of populations, including professional researchers, neighborhood and community members, employees of companies, or others who benefit from maintained ties.

Auteur d’ouvrages techniques et scientifiques, Steven Johnson a consacré un livre à ce sujet bien avant qu’on ne parle de web 2.0. Sous le titre Emergence : The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software28, il étudie des processus que l’on retrouve aussi bien dans la vie des fourmis que dans celle des cerveaux, des villes et des logiciels. Tous « résolvent des problèmes en s’appuyant sur une masse d’éléments relativement stupides plutôt que sur une sorte d’exécutif relativement intelligent […]. Ils tirent leur intelligence du dessous. » Ces systèmes complexes donnent lieu à des comportements nouveaux, qu’il est convenu de qualifier d’émergents. Le plus curieux, peut-être, est que « dans ces systèmes, des agents qui se trouvent à un niveau donné
créent des comportements au niveau supérieur : les fourmis créent des colonies, les citadins créent des quartiers ; de simples logiciels de reconnaissance de motifs apprennent à recommander de nouveaux livres. » Le passage de la simplicité à la sophistication alors qu’on change de niveau est ce que Johnson qualifie d’« émergence ». Le côté séduisant de ce processus, qui n’a rien d’évident, explique sans doute le succès de formules comme « sagesse des foules » ou « intelligence collective ». Elles se réfèrent à une propriété réelle des systèmes complexes, mais en soulignent excessivement le côté positif. C’est pour cela que nous préférons l’expression « alchimie des multitudes » (…)

lle repose sur cinq éléments que l’on trouve rarement tous ensemble, mais dont le kaléidoscope des associations possibles est incroyablement riche.

Accumuler des données
Miser sur la diversité
Compiler / synthétiser
Mettre en relation
Délibérer

Los medios se han vuelto programables, como le gusta decir a Lev Manovich, pero en toda dirección. El desarrollo de un diario online se parece metodológicamente cada vez más al de un software de código abierto. Las lecciones enumeradas en La catedral y el bazar (1997), de Eric S. Raymond, son cada vez más precisas. Por ejemplo, una máxima de la industria del software libre que es clave para los medios online y un antídoto contra la producción a ciegas: Libere rápido y a menudo, y escuche a sus clientes.

Através dos diversos produtos apresentados na rede, como, por exemplo, o vídeo texto e o real chat, o indivíduo pode estabelecer relações sociais, com diversas pessoas, em tempo real sem sair de sua casa.
Estas relações sociais são estabelecidas em função de interesses comuns, partilhados por quantos “navegam” na rede. Desta forma, recuperou-se uma sociabilidade perdida, na medida em que a azáfama do dia-a-dia não permite que as pessoas se encontrem nos espaços de sociabilidade tradicionais (igrejas, cafés, jardins, …). Esta sociabilidade é, então, realizada no ciberespaço; a vivência em comunidade realiza-se num outro espaço que não o físico, mas que amplia e alarga as relações sociais: o virtual complementa o real ou, como afirma Nora (1997: 81), «loin de se substituer à la réalité, le cybermonde la prolonge et l’interpénètre».