Computational methods for socio-computer interaction

From the Arab Spring to presidential elections, various forms of online social media, forums, and networking platforms have been playing increasing significant roles in our societies. These emerging socio-computer interactions demand new methods of understanding how various design features of online tools may moderate the percolation of information and gradually shape social opinions, influence social choices, and moderate collective action. This chapter starts with a review of the literature on the different ways technologies impact social phenomena, with a special focus on theories that characterize how social processes are moderated by various design features of user interfaces. It then reviews different theory-based computational methods derived from these theories to study socio-computer interaction at various levels. Specific examples of computational techniques are reviewed to illustrate how they can be useful for influencing social processes for various purposes. The chapter ends with how future technologies should be designed to improve socio-computer interaction.