A space of possible actions has appeared where some are more likely to be used and some less and all this as a result of the technology. This is an example of inscribed behavior. It should obviously be a mistake to analyse our social structures and our willingness to respond to other peoples messages without relating that willingness to the space of possible actions inscribed in that specific technology. This example is probably too simple to function as a good argument, so I will go on by giving some small, and also probably too simple, illustrations of how small technological changes can lead to radically different social structures and use. And my purpose is still to show that good analyses and studies of netbased social behavior has to be related to the technology used.
Technology matters even in the virtual world.
In a small study on how people relate to virtual communities we found that when new functions are added to email programs, not only new type of use patterns emerged but also new users entered the stage. When these programs are used, other net users appear and disappear on the screen as small icons as they go online or offline. This is a quite simple technology. It is easy to understand and very easy to use. It allows people to have a here and now -relation to other people on the net.