The Sociable Web
`
`Judith S. Donath
`Niel Robertson
`MIT Media Lab
`
`Abstract
`
`The World Wide Web is a pgpular place. The number of people who use it is growing rapidly and the statistics on many
`pages show daily access by thousands of readers. Yet wandering about the Web is a solitary pursuit: one is unaware of the
`presence of the many fellow explorers. We are developing ways of making Web exploration a more communal endeavor.
`
`We are currently developing an experimental server and client that allows Web users to see who else is on a page,
`communicate with them, and travel around the Web as a group. Information on the Web is usually organized and specific;
`users accessing the same page are likely to be in search of the same type of information and share similar interests.
`Providing them with the ability to communicate with each other can facilitate information searches and help foster
`community.
`
`Furthermore, the popularity ofvarious live conferencing systems (e.g. IRC, the chatrooms of AOL, social MUDs, etc.)
`attests to the usefulness of real-time talk interfaces. Adding communicative abilities to Mosaic's easy access to many
`different types of media makes it possible to create conference sessions in which the users can insert hypertext links, sounds
`and images amidst their normal conversational text.
`
`The Web is a Social Environment.
`
`The Web is an information space, a place where one can find ~ conference announcements, and weather maps. It is
`also a social space, a place where people present their credentials, whether as established research scientists with impressive
`vita's and selected bibliographies, or as electronic trend-setters with eclectic web links and obscure lists of outrageous bands.
`Good Web citizens provide links to the CERN server, the peri info pa"e and the be"inner's i1Jide to HTML: they want to
`help and encourage their fellow page builders. Teenagers on the Web have the electronic equivalent of the black concert T(cid:173)
`shirt: links to ~ to Adam Curry's Metayerse, and to the Terrorist's Handbook. For the home-page builder seeking to
`create a self-portrait in hypertext links, the Web provides a vast and varied selection.
`
`Yet what good is a portrait if there is no audience to see it? The challenge, if one wants to be seen, is to make a page so
`compelling in its utility or oddity that others will add links to it. Or simply talk about it. The social function of the Web
`extends beyond its borders - pointers to particularly amusing or informative Web sites are passed along the virtual
`grapevine: they are forwarded by email, posted to mailing-lists, appended to finger files. Such pages are truly destinations,
`visited by hundreds or thousands of Web explorers daily.
`
`Each visitor, however, experiences the site in complete solitude. For some sites, this is fine. Many pages serve no social
`function: the visitor to The Clearin~ouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides is looking for references, not
`acquaintances. Yet at other sites the isolation is unfortunate, for they are ideally suited to be gathering places for like-minded
`individuals. The X-Ray Seryer, for instance, says that it is "dedicated to providing information of interest to the XUV and X(cid:173)
`ray spectroscopic community." And there are countless others. There are are pages for those interested in numerical
`aerodynamic simulations and for those seeking technical information about MBONE or advice about quilting. There are
`pages for nmners, for Kiss fans, for Oliver North supporters and for "ay-ri!Wts activists. These pages draw people who share
`research interests, world views, obsessions; yet, they are unable to communicate with - or even sense the presence of- each
`other.
`
`The Sociable Web allows people to see who else is on a page and to communicate with them (and to communicate not only
`with words, but with sounds, pictures, and links to other places). It also allows people to travel around the Web together as
`group. It makes the Web into a social environment.
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1019, p. 1
`
`

`
`The Sociable Web Project
`The Sociable Web project c:cmmta of a lllliCiified Web bmwller lllld IICIV«. The bto .. aer loob 1i1m 111 ordinary browaer. aDd
`on pages not served by a Sociable Web IICIVI:I', it flmctions llliiiiillll.y. On Sociable Web pages, howevCI', it provides a nmnber
`of IIOcial and c:aJlabora1ivo fealunls. Most lllltably, it llhows who eJae ia on the pap~ and it lllloWll the mer to strike up
`convmsatiollll or to join in aogoing dilcussions.
`
`Sedq wbo else bon a pap. A "Who's Online" window shows who eJae is 1111 the page. People c:an belleeJlas simple text
`I1Iinp - their Jllilllle ami their bost mac;bine - or they em provide a IIIIIBll graphic 1o Iepitwnl them..,lvos.
`
`(You)
`Elena@cafe. media mit.edu
`Armin@tavern. media mit.edu
`John Doe@bistro.com
`M .L .Saunders@diner.com
`
`In
`
`Talk...
`
`I n Hide
`
`Reload
`
`arm in
`
`I
`__ _. __ _. __ _.
`I
`
`Talk...
`
`Hide
`
`Reload
`
`Graphic w:nhm
`
`Thia window leta the UBCI' quickly 8CII1 for a particular penoa, 1111ch u the OWIICI' of the page or 111 acquaintaw:e ofte:D fouD4
`at 1his spot. It also givea the viewer a seue of the activity level of tbe page: aze there ODly a couple of people here or ia 1hia a
`major gatberiDg spot. a :favorite Web 1!Wijng point?
`
`VJrtaallocatloD. The Sociable Web sy&tem is baaed on the concept of~~~ locltion: you are able to talk ouly wilh other
`people wilD are on the ume page. However. the big activity on the Web ia waDde:riDg- following lillb,jumpillg fl:om page
`to page. If you had to lite:rlllly stay on the ume page wileD converaing wilh othen liD it. it would seem confining. VIrtual
`locations .now the user to pat clown 111 anchor on a particular page -where 1hey appear to Jemain.- amlll1ill wandCI' about
`the Web wilh their maiD browser wiildow. 'Ibis allow8 people to have a real "~lome" page, a place whCI'e they can IIB\Ially be
`found, wilbout limiting (heir use of the Web.
`
`Privacy. A! timet, one cloea not wish to be sociable. The Web'l'alk 'browsCI' llloWll tbe user to be invisible. In mch a state,
`one may visit Sociable Web pages without llhowing up in 111yone's Who's Online window. HOWIMI, if not aeen, one CID't be
`heard: it ia n.ecesaary to be visible to talk.
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1019, p. 2
`
`

`
`Talk Port: lrsooo
`
`Callsign : r-1 J-ohn_ D_o_e_@_b-is-tr-o-.c-om- - -.
`
`Visible
`
`Accept
`
`Cancel
`
`Help
`
`Name aNl visibiity selling
`
`One may also participate ~0113ly. Since the c:onuec:tion is specifiad by machine IWIIII B.Dd. port, one em use any
`IIBDII! u a "callsign". It will be up to the server to detmmino whether visitor idlmtity is autlumticated B.Dd. by what
`mecbaniBJD· this is part of ostabliahing tho general style of the server's c:onfmmc:es.
`
`WdJTalk. Tho main felllunl of the Sociable Web is WobTilk: dl.e diacussicms that occur in the context ofdl.e Web lllld that
`uso its rich hypennadia capabilities. Wob'Iilk diacusaions ~~n~livo: OliO types a tmTfsp aDd it app118111 inataml.y (or at least
`n11110uhly fast) on tho SCI'IICIIIS of tho ;m .... dm recipil!lllb. The discussions can be public c:onfonmcos, OJlCil to all, or they can
`be privam convonatiOlls botweoo two people.
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1019, p. 3
`
`

`
`Conference Title: I Public Conference on: Net Commerce
`
`description
`
`Elena:
`
`No, I think the reference is to ~s>I}~S_book.
`
`JolmDoe:
`
`Oh, which one is that?
`
`Elena:
`
`Internet Stock Picking
`
`M.L.Saurulers:
`
`Elena:
`
`No.
`
`M.L.Saurulers:
`
`Hmm. You'd think it would be available. But there's that game,
`right?
`
`Annin:
`
`It's called, umm, M ~-1!19!1·
`
`JolmDoe:
`
`Oh, speaking of money. have you seen the !l~~~t.?I~_?
`View .. I Save 'AS]' Exit I
`Discu88ion wirulow (try 1M butto7Js lllllllinh).
`
`Images, IIOWda. aDd lliW took pages em all be integrated wi1h the flow of word&. The Web'I'alk clie:Dt includes am:ral
`toola for fluency iD h)pertext ccnvasatiOD. For iDB!all=, the uacr em hlgbtight a phrue ad th=.limply by clicking on a
`~(or liAk) em any Web page, altach the choeea object 1o the phrase. WhcD the phrue is aem, die rccipie:Dt IICeill it as
`hlgbUglrted text; if the Reipiellt clicks 011 it. he or abe wDl receive the picture (or fullow the lhlk).
`
`A Web'I'alk convenation ean tranaeeDd llllliley-fill:et. ODe em have 111 eDIUe library or eloquent pictorial- or auditory -
`iD.tcrjectiom. And a WebTalk convmation em be c:omple!ely interwoven wi1h the vut n:t~CJUR:Cs of the Web. One em point
`to refi:rellccs, co.m1maqpmmw, examples, exp8IIBicms - all within alliqle llelltal=.
`
`Clll'mlt statu. Cumndy, the Sociable Web Byllem, as described above, il implem=1ed, ruDIIing, 8lld illlhc proc:ess of
`:liJ:ud debuggiug. We have a page showing the cwmrt rinme of the Sociable Web; this will alao be the pW:e to obtain the
`release c:och! for clitmb llllld BeVen.
`
`A. for futun: work, lhm: am Beveml din:ctiou we ICC this wozk fllking. ODe ia developing the nmge of IICIVCI' styles. A
`Sociable Web server llhcmld be able to de!u urine 1hc llldun: oflhc confm:nces 1hat occur em it& grounda. Some might be
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1019, p. 4
`
`

`
`very casual, allowing anyone to create a conference and permitting people to use any name as their identifier (this is for now
`the normal setup). Other servers might wish to be more restrictive, permitting only the page owner or a chosen group of
`people to form (and dissolve) conferences and requiring that participants use their real (or at least, traceable) name. These
`and other variations in server style will help a page owner to create a social atmosphere that best matches the environment of
`the page.
`
`We are also looking into ways of using this interface to create highly interactive Web sites- pages that converse. With the
`WebTalk mechanism, a page should be able answer queries and do searches (and even make simple, yet colorful, small talk)
`-- the page can be interactively updated and immediately downloaded to the client.
`
`Implementation
`
`A Web Talk server is a normal httpd server with some added capabilities: it keeps track of all the users located on pages it
`serves and it relays the data in the public conferences to the participants.
`
`A Web Talk client sends a message to the server whenever it arrives at or leaves from a page. A non-Web Talk server ignores
`these messages; a Web Talk server acknowledges them, letting the client know that it can look for other users on the page.
`The Web Talk server uses these messages to keep track of who is currently on its pages. The message provides the user
`name, host and Web Talk port number - all the information needed to establish contact with that person.
`
`The WebTalk port is a tcp socket that is kept open for data transfer: it is through this socket that the Web Talk discussions
`take place. Private conversations and public conferences are handled differently, to minimize the load on the server. For
`private conversations, the server simply provides the two parties with each other's address; the connection is made directly
`between the two. For public conferences, the server acts as a conduit; the user sends the message to the server, which relays
`it to the other participants. Messages are received with data identifying the sender and the discussion it was sent to (since
`one may be involved in several discussions at once). It is up to the individual Web Talk browser to decide how to
`differentiate between the incoming streams.
`
`About the authors
`
`Judith Donath is a doctoral candidate at the MIT Media Lab, where her research focuses on the design of visual and
`interactive interfaces to online communities. She has taught interface design at Pratt Institute and New York University, and
`has designed and built a variety of "multimedia" programs. She has a Master's degree from the Media Lab and Bachelor's
`degree in History from Yale University.
`judith@media.mit.edu
`
`Niel Robertson is an computer science student at MIT and is the developer of the Sociable Web program. He has worked on
`network simulators, written graphical interface toolkits, and developed and operated a full-featured bulletin-board system.
`nielr@mit.edu
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1019, p. 5