Each user surfs the web alone. To transform the web into a place that affords social interaction, we have implemented WebPlaces, a system that tracks web users, makes them aware of each others' activities, and puts them in touch with each other. Our hope is that by enabling social awareness and affording interaction, we can create a sense of place on the web. The web is a social structure because it enables individuals to personally publish and to read what others have published. Such interaction through published documents is asynchronous and lacks the richness of ordinary communication.
People are invisible to each other on the web.
In this paper, we describe WebPlaces , an implemented system that enables social interaction on the web, transforming the web from an information collection to an information place . The intention of WebPlaces is to create the proper affordances for people to begin to discover, interact, and build meaningful relationships with others on the web. In terms of awareness, at one extreme, every web user can be made aware of every other web user. At the other extreme, only those viewing the same page at the same time can be made aware of each other. In terms of how to make users aware of each other, possibilities range from lists of names to three-dimensional immersive environments.