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MetaFilter
Et godhjertet diktatur
Bachelor, afleveret til bedømmelse 30. maj 2011Sociologisk Institut, Københavns UniversitetJohn Christian SvaneAnders Bendix Kiel
 
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Abstract
This BA thesis is trying to disclose how the social norms on the community weblogMetaFilter are created and maintained actively in the interaction amongst its mem-bers and from the moderation within the site itself. It is our basic idea that compu-termediated communication differs in characteristics from the face to face commu-nication. We have fewer sociale cues to guide our understanding of each other, andthat among other things changes the condition for the blossoming of the socialnorms.With a theoretical starting point in Ian Hacking and his complimentary use of Mi-chel Foucault and Erving Goffman we are aiming to reveal how the social normsare created in the interaction between the users on MetaFilter and within thediscoursive framework of MetaFilter.More specific we are adapting their methods in looking towards abnormalities inorder to understand
the normal 
, and thereby our center of attention becomes theroles on MetaFilter that have been sanctioned by the users or the moderation.In order to understand the sociality on MetaFilter we are trying first toconceptualize MetaFilter as an urbanity. And thereby understand how strangers areinteracting with people all over the world on multiple subjects.Then we try to grasp how the design and architecture of the MetaFilter homepageare active players in the creation and maintenance of norms by setting the specificframework and some very destinct expectations towards the users of MetaFilter.In our analyzis of the interactions on MetaFilter we have actively used our experi-ences from the urbanity the architecture and theory from mainly Foucault andGoffman. By pointing out different sanctaionized roles we try to disclose the fieldof possible performances by the users. We then see that the norms on MetaFilterare created and maintained in multiple ways. Either from a direct interactionisticor discoursive point of view, but mostly in an interplay between the two. Users arerefering to the guidelines, and the moderation is exercised in relation to how theinteraction is developing.Hacking's purpose of uniting Goffman and Foucault in grounded in the idea thatwe need
both
in order to understand
both.
Foucault gives us an understanding of the institutions and Goffman gives us an insight into how institutions affect outevery day life. Because the sanctions of unaccepted roles cannot alone maintain thesocial norm on MetaFilter, and moderation is needed to take care of users who only want to
 fuck with people
, MetaFilter finally takes form as a ”benevolentdictatorship”.
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