Social Anthropology for the Societal Web

I really liked this article>> that I was alerted to this morning by some of the automation I've set up to find articles of interest across the web. In particular this article talks about the unintended side effects of the infrastructure that you build, the way the programs and systems work affects the behaviour of those using them, often in unintended ways. The example they use shows that this is not an internet phenomenon but a human one.

He points to the Scalinata della Trinita dei Monti, or the Spanish Steps to further his point. "They were built to be stairs," he said, "from the Spanish Embassy at the base, up to the Trinita dei Monti at the top." Instead, they've become the "living room" for backpackers in Rome. "Partially it has to do with the steps being the perfect comfortable height to sit on," he said, but also, they provide a fantastic view of the Piazza di Spagna at the bottom. "This was completely non intentional," he explained. "Similarly, the user interface you create for your applications will influence how people behave."

No one predicted the backpackers - yet still they came. There is a lot of learning in here for us all. As the Societal Web develops a number of things might be discovered through unintended consequence and accidental adoption. Perhaps it's a lot like evolution?