SOMED - Social media in the crossroads of physical, digital and virtual worlds
The SOMED project develops technology and applications that support making user-friendly and value-adding applications with socially created input for digital everyday of technology-mediated communities
Social media refers to applications that are based on active user participation and communication. Other characteristics are open content, Web 2.0 technologies, communities and connectedness. Successful social media applications and services are usable, comprehensible and reliable, and most of all enjoyable ways of sharing information, content and experiences with other users.
The project has three main aims:
- to understand the social media phenomenon and its implications. and what opportunities will be created in the future at different levels
- to develop technologies and applications promoting the future application opportunities
- to apply social media in research and development
Owela - Open Web Lab
As a practical tool, we’ll create an interactive web site Owela (Open Web Lab) to be our practical tool in utilising and studying social media. It will be a communication forum and a virtual think tank to innovate new forms of social media. Owela can be used to improve our understanding of users and their future needs as well as to gather feedback from wider audience.
Visit Owela at http://owela.vtt.fi/
Technology development
The technology development aims at creating solutions that help in bringing social media applications into practical every-day use and to utilise the opportunities that are created by mobile technology. It should be possible to capture user input at the point of inspirations and collaboratively process these inputs into usable results.
Future foresight
Foresight approach to social media means probing future perspectives of social media. This will be done by identifying weak signals of future digital user cultures and by making a roadmap on the anticipated developments of social media in a post-digital world. The drivers, applications and implications of foreseen developments of social media will be charted, analysed, and milestones regarding technological, business-wise, social, and cultural viewpoints will be defined.
The roadmap work will be based on essential clustered elements of social media in the digital culture such as IP everywhere, what you feel is set up as metadata, and increasing digital equality: technology enhancing user skills, know-how, abilities and empowerment.
Additional information
Asta Bäck
Senior Research Scientist
+358 20 722 4536
asta.back@vtt.fi