I’m intrigued by the latest meme of Social Software, and trying to understand exactly what it is, what it means and how it differs from “virtual communities”.

At the moment it seems like a human-centered layer on top of the technologies, so we are talking “presence” rather than buddy list, “notification” rather than SMS, “collaboration” rather than wikis and “news” or “knowledge” rather than RSS or blogs.

From what I’ve heard, Social Software also seems to have strong human-centered aspects to do with human limitations (you can’t be a member of all groups) and usability (it has to be easy or it won’t happen).

There is also an emergent / agile /adaptive element to it, so that Social Software tends to be about evolving systems rather than designing them, wiring things (that work) together rather than starting from scratch. They require people, content and time before they “work”.

I’m not sure if I’ve grasped it yet, here’s some Social Software links. Tell me if you think I’ve got it all wrong.

The excesses of “Social Software”
All Pages in Social Software Alliance Wiki
You Don’t Know Me, but… Social Capital & Social Software
Matt Jones, Defining Discussing ‘Social Software’
Using Social Software to increase Social Capital Social software - get real
Ross Mayfield’s Weblog
MANY-TO-MANY a social software weblog.