User:Lassebosch/2ndyr/thesis

Lasse van den Bosch Christensen

SKELETON

TITLE: I, for one, welcome our new Overlords

Outline:

The thesis will examine the relationship between users of online platforms and the provider of such. It will specifically look at motives for using a platform and on the other hand providing it, and how these two can differ entirely but to some extent accommodate each other.

As a case the thesis will focus on the community around a 3D modeling software, recently known as Google SketchUp, and it's close connection to the virtual earth simulation tool Google Earth, also until recently, allowing users to upload their models built in Google SketchUp.

Google SketchUp was sold in the spring of 2012, and the functionality for users to upload their models to Google Earth was announced retiring as of October 2013, supposedly because of advances made in automated, computed model-making, replacing the need for users to populate Google Earth with their content. These decisions naturally caused an uproar amongst the users of the software and platform, leading to several heated debates filled with anger and despair towards the sale and future role of the modelers. At the same time a dominant awe towards the provider and strong faith in it's decisions is present, shedding light on the almost godlike position of such.

A user-based discussion thread on the sale of Google SketchUp and how the modelers handle the situation, will be held as a central source, and used as a 'backbone' for the thesis. The discussion thread is named: 'I, for one, welcome our new Trimble Overlords', Trimble being the new owners of Sketchup. This title already indicates the distinguished relationship between users and provider.

From this departure the thesis will dive in to the trending idea of 'crowdsourcing' and address its 'gray areas' of outsourcing and exploitation. It will further look upon ideas of game-theory; how to construct a 'game' or a system generating an optimized outcome, trough 'rules' based on technical restrictions built into the soft/hardware or based on certain social/psychological triggers.

Broadening this line of thought, the thesis will elaborate on the emergence of a strong social and cultural scene which can emerge within such a system, arguably crossing the boundaries of pure exploitation of the users. In the case of Google SketchUp/Google Earth the emotional attachments users gradually builds by populating the virtual earth, clearly shines trough the aspect of exploitation, yet they are extremely dependent on the provider since it serves the entire habitat in which the users 'roam'. The users passionately generate content for the platform, while the provider makes the existence of the platform a reality and aggregate value from the content generated. A certain, fragile, asynchronous relationship between users and provider becomes more clear.

Throughout the thesis additional smaller case studies will be brought in, making space for a deeper cultural, more general understanding of relationships between communities and providers, also addressing the issues of sudden 'rupture' within a platform and the mutual dependence between users and providers.

I: INTRO: Community Panic

FOCUS: depict the despair/panic in the modelers-community at the time of sale (of SketchUp). Give overview of implicated software and platforms.

...I deleted all my [...] models!

...I will also delete all my models!

...It is Over.

...People are starting to Jump!

...I, for one, welcome our new [...] Overlords.

“I wonder that people aren't adding to their models little prophets carrying 'The End is Nigh!' placards.”.

A broken trinity: Software, Platform & Repository

For the sake of overview a brief outline of the different implicated software and platforms and their relations will be sketched out in the following.

II: The crowd

FOCUS: How to harness the crowd into producing a desired output? How is the crowd utilized for production? Main argument revolves around exploitation of users.

REWIND: google acquires Sketchup: reasons

...Already we’ve had hundreds of users create 3D content in SketchUp and place their models in Google Earth. (A free plug-in enables you to do this.) What will that virtual world look like when tens of thousands of users are doing the same?

“Crowdsourcing is outsourcing on steroids” - Jeff Howe (Crowdsourcing - Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business)

game-theory: design systems which generate outcome for the provider but enables 'freedom' for the individual. --> leads to next chapter

Exploitation critique

III: Users as Users

FOCUS: Dependency on software and platform. Google sells Sketchup. This chapter will extend above critique and discuss more technical aspects of rectrictions/regulations

This chapter will discuss how the software and platform is designed to make the crowd perform a desired task, by introducing certain confinements and restrictions to the capabilities of the software/platform and the users 'freedom'.

Bring in more source-material

- regulation/law/lessig:

- Latour: on speedbumps: motivations and limits for the user. confinement of 'movement'.

- ganeesh (own note)

IV: More than a user?

FOCUS: Mutual dependence? Broaden the perspective of the previous chapters.

- Enthusiasm amongst the users

- back to the title of the discussion thread

- Emergence of subscenes, and cultures some more conform than others

The platform allows not only for rigid 'upload' to Google earth but spawns a vivid scene of cultures and subcultures. The users evolves strong emotional bonds towards the platform, and the content they've produced, the provider plays a less 'dominant' role since the production is 'benefiting' the user it self.