Social systems
Encyclopedia
Social system is a central term in sociological systems theory. The term draws a line to ecosystem
, biological organism
s, psychical systems and technical systems. They all form the environment
of social systems. Minimum requirements for a social system is interaction
of at least two personal systems or two persons acting in their role
s. The first who formulated a systematic theory of social systems was Talcott Parsons
where it was a part of his AGIL paradigm
yet the social system is only a segment (or a "subsystem") of what Parsons calls action theory
; however, Vilfredo Pareto
had used the term, "social system," earlier but only as a sketch and not as an overall analytical scheme in the sense of Parsons.
describes three counterintuitive behaviours as important: causes from symptoms are often far removed in time and space, identifying leverage points, conflicting short + long-term consequences.
it is actions
, while Niklas Luhmann
considers communication processes which constitute a social system. Though communication is also an action (e.g. speech acts) and on the surface this seems to be a discussion about terms only, the selection of basic terms has theoretical and empirical consequences.
There are multiple methods of measuring participation within a social system. Reach, engagement, frequency of participation – all tell something about the success of a social system.
All social systems have commonalities. One is that they become more fun and interesting as more people play and participate. Another is that with each iteration, or version, very quickly the population or interest reaches a plateau.
Indeed, the world is one large social system, split into many smaller social systems.
When the Internet first reached the hands of the populace, people took the existing model of dungeons and dragons and created their own digital versions of the worlds once played by people in their living rooms and basements. These first text-based online role-playing games
attracted people who enjoyed the social aspect of battling for gold and riches. Hundreds of new worlds sprouted up. Some of these worlds were designed more successfully than others. In terms of reach, some of these worlds supported thousands of users, while some only tens to hundreds.
was a highly regulated, highly immersive experience. Through a system where progression was based not only on fighting and questing within the world, it also depended on contribution to the world itself. To advance, an adventurer was required to role-play, or act their character at all times. DragonRealms had a particularly high administrator to player ratio, approximately one administrator for every player. This made it possible for the admins to silently watch the players. Players would be awarded by admins with ‘favor points’ for creative advancement. Every five levels, a player would need 1 favor point to progress. In DragonRealms, there were five main guilds (Inquisitor, Red gauntlet,...). Each of these guilds had a role in the world. Alliances were formed, betrayed. Favor points could also be used by guilds to build in the world. Special weapons, abilities, and castles, unique to the favor point wielder, were granted by the admins. At the height of this world, an average of 1300 players were interacting with this world.
This system was highly engaging; most players spent multiple hours per day in this world. Eventually though, the costs associated with moderating such a game were too much for the creators and the game was taken offline.
s simple, 2-D graphic interface served some 50,000 daily users.
became the first virtual world to reach 500,000. By 2000 this number ballooned to almost over two million users. Because of the addictive nature of the game, and the amount of time needed to be a Hero in this world, the game was coined EverCrack.
was launched in November 2004. Within two months, WoW had surpassed EverQuest for largest virtual world. Within a year, over 10 million people were paying a monthly subscription fee to take part in this environment. WoW took many ideas from EverQuest, while fixing many of the aspects that frustrated users.
was different from the role-playing virtual worlds. The progression system was not on fighting monsters and battling opponents. Instead, Second Life aimed to represent the real world. Players could build homes, islands, open businesses, casinos. Players could design clothing, actions, dance moves by using an open source design. By selling or renting their creations, users could get ‘rich’ and be successful in this virtual worlds. While some expected Second Life to be wildly popular, as of 2008, Second Life homes some three million players, only 200,000 of which are online at a given time. This is less than 1/5 the number of players as World of Warcraft.
, Facebook
, Myspace
, Orkut
, Stumbleupon
, Wallop
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
, biological organism
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
s, psychical systems and technical systems. They all form the environment
Social environment
The social environment of an individual, also called social context or milieu, is the culture that s/he was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom the person interacts....
of social systems. Minimum requirements for a social system is interaction
Interaction
Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect...
of at least two personal systems or two persons acting in their role
Role
A role or a social role is a set of connected behaviours, rights and obligations as conceptualised by actors in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position...
s. The first who formulated a systematic theory of social systems was Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
where it was a part of his AGIL paradigm
AGIL Paradigm
The AGIL paradigm is a sociological scheme created by American sociologist Talcott Parsons in the 1950s. It is a systematic depiction of certain societal functions, which every society must meet to be able to maintain stable social life...
yet the social system is only a segment (or a "subsystem") of what Parsons calls action theory
Action theory
Action theory is an area in philosophy concerned with theories about the processes causing willful human bodily movements of more or less complex kind. This area of thought has attracted the strong interest of philosophers ever since Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics...
; however, Vilfredo Pareto
Vilfredo Pareto
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto , born Wilfried Fritz Pareto, was an Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist and philosopher. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals' choices....
had used the term, "social system," earlier but only as a sketch and not as an overall analytical scheme in the sense of Parsons.
Characteristics of social systems
Jay Wright ForresterJay Wright Forrester
Jay Wright Forrester is a pioneer American computer engineer, systems scientist and was a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Forrester is known as the founder of System Dynamics, which deals with the simulation of interactions between objects in dynamic systems.- Biography :Forrester...
describes three counterintuitive behaviours as important: causes from symptoms are often far removed in time and space, identifying leverage points, conflicting short + long-term consequences.
Approaches of Parsons and Luhmann
In sociological systems theory there is a controversy what kind of structural elements a social system consists of. For Talcott ParsonsTalcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
it is actions
Instrumental action
Instrumental action is a social action pursued after evaluating its consequences and consideration of the various means to achieve it. They are usually planned and taken after considering costs and consequences...
, while Niklas Luhmann
Niklas Luhmann
Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist, and a prominent thinker in sociological systems theory.-Biography:...
considers communication processes which constitute a social system. Though communication is also an action (e.g. speech acts) and on the surface this seems to be a discussion about terms only, the selection of basic terms has theoretical and empirical consequences.
Social systems and digital/online worlds
Social systems sciences is a loose term for engineered environments which, if successful, attract users to participate. The advent of computers and the internet has enabled new types of social systems to take form.There are multiple methods of measuring participation within a social system. Reach, engagement, frequency of participation – all tell something about the success of a social system.
All social systems have commonalities. One is that they become more fun and interesting as more people play and participate. Another is that with each iteration, or version, very quickly the population or interest reaches a plateau.
Indeed, the world is one large social system, split into many smaller social systems.
- Digital social systems
- Virtual worlds
- Role-playing games as social systems
When the Internet first reached the hands of the populace, people took the existing model of dungeons and dragons and created their own digital versions of the worlds once played by people in their living rooms and basements. These first text-based online role-playing games
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
attracted people who enjoyed the social aspect of battling for gold and riches. Hundreds of new worlds sprouted up. Some of these worlds were designed more successfully than others. In terms of reach, some of these worlds supported thousands of users, while some only tens to hundreds.
DragonRealms
DragonRealmsDragonRealms
DragonRealms is a medieval fantasy game set in the world of Elanthia. One of the oldest and most popular examples of the MUD genre, it was developed from 1992-1995 and released in February 1996. It was originally intended for an online service planned by the Ziff-Davis company...
was a highly regulated, highly immersive experience. Through a system where progression was based not only on fighting and questing within the world, it also depended on contribution to the world itself. To advance, an adventurer was required to role-play, or act their character at all times. DragonRealms had a particularly high administrator to player ratio, approximately one administrator for every player. This made it possible for the admins to silently watch the players. Players would be awarded by admins with ‘favor points’ for creative advancement. Every five levels, a player would need 1 favor point to progress. In DragonRealms, there were five main guilds (Inquisitor, Red gauntlet,...). Each of these guilds had a role in the world. Alliances were formed, betrayed. Favor points could also be used by guilds to build in the world. Special weapons, abilities, and castles, unique to the favor point wielder, were granted by the admins. At the height of this world, an average of 1300 players were interacting with this world.
This system was highly engaging; most players spent multiple hours per day in this world. Eventually though, the costs associated with moderating such a game were too much for the creators and the game was taken offline.
Virtual world evolution
These role-playing games took popular aspects from thousands of MUDs, and built a graphic interface around them. With each successive iteration and advance in graphics, these games became more interesting, and addictive.Ultima Online (UO)
By 1996 Ultima OnlineUltima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
s simple, 2-D graphic interface served some 50,000 daily users.
EverQuest
By 2000 EverQuestEverQuest
EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
became the first virtual world to reach 500,000. By 2000 this number ballooned to almost over two million users. Because of the addictive nature of the game, and the amount of time needed to be a Hero in this world, the game was coined EverCrack.
World of Warcraft (WoW)
World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
was launched in November 2004. Within two months, WoW had surpassed EverQuest for largest virtual world. Within a year, over 10 million people were paying a monthly subscription fee to take part in this environment. WoW took many ideas from EverQuest, while fixing many of the aspects that frustrated users.
Second Life
Second LifeSecond Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
was different from the role-playing virtual worlds. The progression system was not on fighting monsters and battling opponents. Instead, Second Life aimed to represent the real world. Players could build homes, islands, open businesses, casinos. Players could design clothing, actions, dance moves by using an open source design. By selling or renting their creations, users could get ‘rich’ and be successful in this virtual worlds. While some expected Second Life to be wildly popular, as of 2008, Second Life homes some three million players, only 200,000 of which are online at a given time. This is less than 1/5 the number of players as World of Warcraft.
Social networks
e.g. FriendsterFriendster
Friendster is a social gaming site that is based in Malaysia, KL. The company now operates mainly from the three Asian countries namely in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore....
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, Orkut
Orkut
Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The service is designed to help users meet new and old friends and maintain existing relationships...
, Stumbleupon
StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles.Toolbar versions exist for...
, Wallop
Wallop
Wallop was originally designed as an Internet social network service tracing its origins from Microsoft Research. As a startup, the company behind Wallop was backed by $13 million from Microsoft and venture capitalists including Norwest Venture Partners, Bay Partners and Consor Capital.While the...
See also
- Open and closed systems in social scienceOpen and closed systems in social scienceLudwig Bertalanffy describes two types of systems: open systems and closed systems. The open systems are systems that allow interactions between its internal elements and the environment...
- Social webSocial WebThe social Web is a set of social relations that link people through the World Wide Web. The Social web encompasses how websites and software are designed and developed in order to support and foster social interaction. These online social interactions form the basis of much online activity...
- Systems theory in anthropologySystems theory in anthropologySystems Theory in Anthropology is an interdisciplinary, non-representative, non-referential, and non-Cartesian approach that brings together natural and social sciences to understand society in its complexity. The basic idea of a system theory in social science is to solve the classical problem of...
Literature
- Talcott Parsons 1970. The System of Modern Societies, New York
- Talcott Parsons 1977. Social Systems and the Evolution of Action Theory, New York
- Talcott Parsons 1978. Action Theory and the Human Condition, New York