Self-Made Media Research Group (SMM) has been merged into Digital Content Communities (DCC) research group. The information below is thus outdated!

Introduction

Self-Made Media Research Group (SMM) studies information and communication technologies for social interaction. We have a strong expertise in non-professional photography, and are especially interested in issues emerging from user involvement in technologies (services and products) for social communication. The group was established in January 2008 and has three focus areas: non-professional photography, user involvement, and conflicts in mediated social interaction.

Our studies provide an understanding of information technology and its social uses. Additionally, we design and study new products and services in co-operation with industry and the public sector and identify potential personal and societal conflicts in using future technologies for social interaction. 

A growing part of everyday social interaction is computer-mediated. This affects the ways in which social interaction is organized: conventions and practices do not translate effortlessly from one sociotechnical setting to another.

Computer-mediation relies heavily on commercial stakeholders who develop and maintain products and services. As people use commercial technologies for social interaction they become involved in the design, advertisement, adoption, and maintenance of these products and services. This user involvement is encouraged by commercial stakeholders as it is seen critical for business.

For example, family gatherings and tourism involve a variety of technologies that are used in order to enable and extend face-to-face interaction. Non-professional photography is an important part of both and it is increasingly computer-mediated (i.e.,  digital photo capture, sharing and publishing). People’s photographs and related interaction reside on commercial services, which often depend on having large numbers of users and their active involvement. The technologies developed, their actual usage and commercial interests lead both to new forms of social interaction, but as well to possible sources of conflict, such as in privacy, ownership of intellectual property or freedom of expression.

Focus areas

Non-professional Photography. The technologies, businesses, and practices of snapshot/domestic photography; including photography for tourism and societal activism. 

User Involvement in Service Design. User-generated content and people as media creators. User politics in ownership, freedom of speech, privacy and other potential conflicts in user involvement. The strategies companies can adopt in involving users in their services and products.

Conflicts in Technologically Mediated Social Interaction. Potential personal and societal conflicts rising from increasing mediated communication between people. Especially issues relating to privacy, automation, generational differences, and involvement of users/consumers in service design or content production.

People

Risto Sarvas, D.Sc.(Tech.), group leader
Asko Lehmuskallio, MA, PhD. Candidate
Mikael Johnson, M.Sc.(Tech.), PhD Candidate
Vilma Lehtinen, M.Soc.Sc., PhD Candidate
Sami Vihavainen, M.Sc.(Tech.), PhD Canditate

Selected Recent Publications

Salovaara, A., Lehmuskallio, A., Hedman, L., Löppönen, P., Näsänen, J. (2010). Information technologies and transitions in the lives of 55-65 year olds: the case of colliding life interests. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 68(11), pp.803–821.

Johnson, M. (2010). User Involvement, Social Media, and Service Evolution: The Case of Habbo Hotel. In the Proceedings of HICSS 2010.

Vihavainen, S., Kuula, T., Federlay, M. (2010) Cross-use of smart phones and printed books in primary school education. Proceedings of Mobile HCI 2010, ACM Press.

Vaajakallio, K., Lehtinen, V., Kaario, P., Mattelmäki, T., Kuikkaniemi, K., Kantola, V. (2010). Someone Else's Shoes - Using
Role-Playing Games for Empathy and Collaboration in Service Design. Design Research Journal, 1 (1), (pp. 34-41). Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish Industrial Design Foundation.

Ren, K., Sarvas, R., Ćalić, J. (2010). Interactive search and browsing interface for large-scale visual repositories. Multimedia Tools and Applications (online), Springer.
 

Lehmuskallio, A. (2009). Social Media und fotografische Praktiken. Eine Analyse der Auswirkung neuer Kommunikationstechnologien auf Schnappschussgewohnheiten. In: Müller, Daniel; Ligensa, Annemone and Gendolla, Peter (eds). Leitmedien. Konzepte -- Relevanz -- Geschichte. Bielefeld: Transcript, pp. 267–283.

Johnson, M. (2009). Unscrambling the "Average User" of Habbo Hotel. Human Technology, 3 (2), 127-153.

Johnson, M., Hyysalo, S., and Heiskanen, E. (2009). Design-use relationships in Sociotechnical Change. Guest Editors’ Introduction, Special Issue, Human Technology 3 (2), 120-126.

Lehmuskallio, Asko. (2009). “A photo is not an extension of me, it’s plain surface.” – Views of users of a Web 2.0 photo-sharing site on photos and privacy. SPIEL: Siegener Periodicum zur Internationalen Empirischen Literaturwissenschaft, Phenomena of Web 2.0 as agents of cultural change.

Atwink. Combining digital pen & paper with smart phones and social networking.
See the Atwink video.

Ossi service in OtaSizzle.
See the Ossi video.

Visualizing Social Networks in IRC-galleria.
See the poster.