SOFTec 2013 - Second Workshop on Computer Mediated Social Offline Interactions

Second Workshop on Computer Mediated Social Offline Interactions
Organizers: Nemanja Memarovic, Vassilis Kostakos, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, and Albrecht Schmidt
Workshop website: http://uc.inf.usi.ch/events/softec13
In the age of online social networks, instant messaging, and email, social offline interactions seem destined to become an anachronism: as our use of electronic media increases, the number of hours per day that we interact directly with others “in the flesh” declines. Yet for all the power of synchronous and asynchronous remote communication, virtual interactions are hardly an adequate substitute. Recent studies show, e.g., that users of online social networking sites feel lonelier than non-users, and that people who have regular social offline interactions on a weekly basis enjoy a significantly reduction in mortality. Is there a way to have our cake and eat it, too? Can we design technology in such a way that its use comes not at the expense of social offline interaction, but supports it? The goal of this workshop is to examine how we can build technologies that promote offline interactions.