Recently Marcus Foth, founder and director of the Urban Informatics Research Lab and Principal Research Fellow with the Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation at Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia), shared how technology is shaping not only our social interactions, but also civic engagement.

Foth's presentation to more than 50 students and staff titled "The Digital Metamorphosis from Social Butterfly to Engaged Citizen," explained how social media and mobile technology influence how we interact and engage with the community.  As Foth explained, technology has allowed for a much more participatory Internet experience.  His research examines how this open, collaborative, and personalizable technology can improve civic engagement. 

According to Foth, understanding the anatomy of a community by observing social habits is much like understanding the anatomy of a human when trying to diagnose an illness.  As he noted, "By dissecting or looking inside the body, we are able to understand the skeleton, the muscular fiber, and the nervous systems. Similarly, by dissecting the urban environment and looking at how social and mobile technologies are being used, we are able to better understand how engaged citizens are with issues like food, environment, and sustainability." 

Foth's recent publication, From Social Butterfly to Engaged Citizen: Urban Informatics, Social Media, Ubiquitous Computing, and Mobile Technology to Support Citizen Engagement, http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12663

examines how cities are changing as the digital and physical worlds are merging and shaping new approaches to social engagement in urban areas.

Link to presentation: Social and Psychological Effects of Games_11/15/2011