Designing Social Interfaces

Part I. What Are Social Patterns?

In the past 15 years, we have watched the proliferation of Internet technology spread across the globe and have been immersed in the creation of tools and interactive experiences to help people navigate their way to information, find other people, and create their own places on the Web. We have seen the rise and fall of the first wave—the dot.com boom and bust—and have experienced firsthand the explosion of Web 2.0 and social media as both designers and participants.

These electronic connections and social tools are changing the way we interact with one another. We believe that these tools can be designed and simplified to help normal people expand their online experiences with others. These social patterns of behavior and the interfaces to support them have emerged and continue to evolve as we find better ways to bring people together.

Social patterns are the components and pieces of interactivity that are the building blocks of social experiences. They are the best practices and principles we have seen emerge from hundreds of sites and applications with social features or focus. They are the emergent interaction patterns that have become the standard way for users to interact with their content and with the people who matter most to them.