Semiotics of Social Networking

Social networking is communication of one person with another person in a virtual social space using a computer[9]. Social media gives humans instant connection to communicate with others. This new area of communication allows new insight into social semiotics. Social semiotics is studying human interactions through situations^[10]. “Millions of people now interact through blogs, collaborate through wikis, play multiplayer games, publish podcasts and video, build relationships through social network sites, and evaluate all the above forms of communication through feedback and ranking mechanisms”^[11]. Social semiotics “unlike speech, writing necessitates some sort of technology in the form of person device interaction”^[12]. Social semiotics function through the triad of communication, in the form of sign,object, interpretant^[13], (Piercean Semiotics) “Human, Machine, Tag (Information)”^[14].

Sign, Object, Interpretant

Human, Machine, Tag

Triads of Communication

Human-Social interacting^[15].

Machine–Computers are created by humans and now have social applications^[16].

Tag– Picture/information tagging on social networks “has changed the traditional online communication process”^[17].

This example of the triangle of Human, Machine, Tag is shown when looking at tagging photographs on Facebook^[18]. The Human takes the photo on a camera and puts the digital file (information) on the Machine, the Machine is then navigated to Facebook where the file is downloaded. The Human has the Machine Tag the photo with information (names, places, data) for other Humans to see. This process then can be continued (see chart 2). “Collaborative tagging has been quickly gaining ground because of its ability to recruit the activity of web users into effectively organizing and sharing vast amounts of information”^[19].