Digital convergence means the phenomenon of digital technology based on several products or services, such as video, audio, data, becoming freely convergent. It leads to the innovation of social communication style and the spread of social media. This...
Digital convergence means the phenomenon of digital technology based on several products or services, such as video, audio, data, becoming freely convergent. It leads to the innovation of social communication style and the spread of social media. This thesis is focused on there being a need for human social connection behind this effective system of social communication technology and services. The causes of recent social networking are, in terms of affordance, supporting amateurs’ social activities, self-identity building, and possessing low cost along with high efficiency. Through this networking, various values are created, and lively social networking in which numerous people become involved is generated.
The rich communication styles that overcome the restrictions of space-time have caused new types of experiences. We experience ‘constant social spaces’ when communicating with acquaintances through smart phones and the wireless Internet. Physical spaces are connected to each other through the electronic network and change when affected by people’s activities on it. Therefore, physical places are not fixed, but become ‘flowing spaces’. We stay in a place, but are able to communicate with somebody at a distance, so we experience ‘temporary space’. If many people stay in a space and communicate with their acquaintances through the Internet, they recognize ‘multiple space’. As a result, a normal space becomes ambivalent by having fixed and fluid characteristics and is recognized as the hybridization of online and off-line spaces. Finally, convergent space has appeared.
Furthermore, what roles have spaces for the public taken throughout history? In modern cities, after mass media and commercial spaces became more publicized, offline public spaces took a position in which capital and political authority show off their power. Nevertheless, in the modern commodity capitalist society, the roles of media spectacles and commerce cannot be discarded easily in light of spatial ecology. Therefore, this thesis defines all spaces for the public as public spaces, including commercial spaces and cyberspaces. Furthermore, it defines spaces united with media by digital convergence technology as public convergent spaces.
The advent of social media as an online public space has simultaneously both a positive and negative influence. First, it creates a public spectacle like the exponential increase of social networking, but brings about a lack of accidental communication within the public. Second, online space takes the role of a substitute for public space provoking contacts between acquaintances, but it decreases physical contact with the others. Third, it makes it possible for lively communication by breaking the boundary between private and public space, but violates publicity as a result. The role of offline space is becoming weaker. Therefore, first, it is suggested that the positive influences of public convergent space must be reinforced and negative influences should be supplemented. Second, physical space must be further developed as a medium and this will lead to more intimate social networking. For these purposes, spaces supporting self-control of self-disclosure are suggested as a solution. According to socio-psychologists, self-disclosure is the starting point of social networking, but it leads to the level of a more intimate relationship. This thesis introduces the characteristics of this as self-presentation, corporeality, inter-subjectivity, and a method of spatial configuration is suggested for balanced self-disclosure.
First, self-presentation means the activity of identity configuration through the means, not only of speaking, words, images and video that include thought or emotion, but also academic background, hometown, interests, date of birth and a list of human relations that show one’s identity. In online space, people commonly use images or texts to complete their characters, so this could be referred to as self-presentation in storytelling type. Now, people can communicate freely while not actually showing themselves. On the other hand, in offline space, people have to prepare well for a performance which they present to others. They need to adjust according to shifting circumstances.
Second, corporeality is the result of action in which one’s body is engaged. It is the most fundamental tool to express oneself and the most attractive tool to gain others’ attention. In online space, users display photos of themselves, the dishes they eat, the places they visit, so they expose themselves through indirect embodiment, namely disembodied corporeality. This can create an opportunity for acquaintances to meet each other and for others to communicate without physical contact. On the other hand, in offline space, people interact with others by embodied corporeality, such as exchanging gifts, shaking hands, and talking while looking at each other.
Third, there is inter-subjectivity. Self-disclosure starts from a subjective perspective but can obtain empathy as the goal when it proceeds through an inter-subjective frame. For this reason, inter-subjectivity has a strong relationship with empathy, but inter-subjectivity tends to be more rational and empathy more emotional. Online inter-subjectivity expands coverage of empathy through new media enabling many-to-many communication, but offline inter-subjectivity makes deep empathy possible by engaging in a certain situation. Consequently, online communication provides an expansion of inter-subjectivity, and offline communication offers deeper inter-subjectivity. Therefore, when these two have a good balance, more valuable social networking flourishes.
However, social networking in reality leans toward occurring online. So the optimization of public convergent space is possible only by activating offline social networking and consolidating intimate social relationships through leading online communities to offline space. This thesis presents spatial configuration as the solution supporting self-control of self-disclosure. It requires a more detailed approach according to prior experimental results, psychological analyses and networking technologies. Hence, 3 theories of spatial configuration are studied. These are space syntax, evolutionary psychology and psychological screen configuration.
Space syntax deals with social encounters and spatial configuration according to the level of ‘permeability’. That refers to spatial openness, which could be used for active social networking. Evolutionary psychology deals with human psychology pursuing stable social networking and natural environmental constituents relating to various types of shelter. Psychological screen configuration deals with social networking and mass collaboration methods associated with screen size and its configuration. On these grounds, 3 types of social networking can be analogized from 3 theories, such as mutual opening networking from space syntax, self-protective networking from evolutionary psychology and collective networking from psychological screen configuration. Besides, these could be interpreted as fixed constituents, adjustable constituents and fluid constituents.
Fixed constituents guarantee mutual opening social networking and can be configured for publicy-centered space, and can be classified as back space, middle space, and front space. Adjustable constituents secure self-protective social networking, are constituted for privacy-centered space, and can be classified as likeable space, ‘explorable’ space and compatible space. Fluid constituents assure collective social networking, can be composed for community assembly-centered space, and can be classified as drifting space, gathering space and collective space. Therefore, a user or community can select a spatial configuration set on the spot, or can order it by simulating it in a way that he/she or they want. For this reason the user can obtain a space which they prefer and can control self-disclosure by selecting or simulating it. Through all these spatial systems, users are subjectively able to adjust a public space. Finally, user-centered daily carnival space for harmonious social networking is revealed.