Reading Response 7

Elisse Chow | November 12, 2023

For this week's reading response, I think I might respond in general to the entirety of Chapter 7: Social Design in Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime as well as maybe a small reflection in response to Kunwoo's lecture on Wednesday November 8.

> Principle 7.5 Simple is satisfying.

Normally for these responses, I think I would take into consideration things that I've created, or projects that I've worked on. But when it comes to social technology, I can't say I've really built anything akin to that except a really buggy chat room where you can move around as a colored circle and send messages for others to view below your “avatar.” It was built in OpenProcessing using webhooks, and it was incredibly limited in functionality. While principle 7.5 says that simplicity is good, in my case I think it was a bit too simple to make anyone feel a lot of satisfaction. Regardless, I think I find this principle interesting that simplicity and anonymity actually lend towards a possible closer social interaction. As I think about it more, it makes so much sense but at the same time it feels contradictory that removing parts about yourself would allow you to feel closer with others despite not having context or knowledge about their person.

When it comes to my experience with games, specifically video games, I haven't had many where I would actively play with other strangers. I usually play games that can be played alone, or play with people in person. There are a few that I've played multiplayer aspects with, but when it comes to the really “social” aspect of gaming, I generally only participate socially with people I already know in real life—this group of people usually consists of my siblings, friends, and possibly friends of friends. The whole thing surrounding anonymity feels a bit odd to me I think because I haven't had a lot of experience actually actively interacting with strangers and forming connections through a digital game. I'm not sure if it will be the case that I'll ever really be comfortable putting myself out there in an online game in the future, but maybe I'll try one of Kunwoo's games he recommended at the end of class and see what I can take away from that experience.