Abstract
Information architecture is an applied art that solves the “problems arising when we need to manage, produce and consume large amount of information” (Resmini, Problemi dell’Informazione, 38:63–76, Resmini 2013). Information architecture reflects upon complex systems of signs, understanding their mutual relationships and finding the best way to organize them. This chapter introduces a number of theoretical tools from semiotics that are relevant for information architecture, in particular for tracing cultural phenomena down to the specific information architectures of specific digital places, and reflects upon the role of information architecture in the creation of a sense of place in digital space. A definition of digital place and of the forces acting upon it is offered, extended to cross-channel ecosystems, and then applied to understand the way we inhabit platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Key factors in the creation of place information architecture impacts upon are subsequently introduced, and then a few conclusive remarks close the chapter.
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- 1.
For example continuous/discontinuous, internal/external, open/closed, center/periphery. These possess a corresponding culturally-influenced basic meaning, for example in Western cultures the opposition “top vs bottom” is often associated to the opposition “sacred vs profane”, “internal vs external” to “secure vs dangerous”.
- 2.
This point of view is supported by most semioticians, especially those who refer to the interpretative semiotics approach and Eco. For more on this and the opposing views of generative semiotics, see References.
- 3.
This dynamic is also at the basis of Kirby’s idea of pseudo-modernism: “what is central now is the busy, active, forging work of the individual who would once have been called its recipient” (Kirby 2006).
- 4.
At every moment of its existence, the electronic text consists in several alternative virtual paths, which become actualized when the branches appears, and only one of them becomes realized after a choice is made (Zinna 2008).
- 5.
Narrative roles differ from thematic roles. For example, Snowwhite is a child (thematic role) who is the subject (narrative role) of the story, and the seven dwarves (thematic roles) act as her helper (as a single narrative role).
- 6.
For an introductory overview on the process of modalization, see Greimas and Courtés 1979, p. 209.
- 7.
“Me” is present in the scene in all different semiotic modes of existence—virtual, actual, and real—thanks to input-boxes, buttons, images and icons; others are present to this “me” through their pictures and texts, positions convey meaning, and temporal flow is articulated through specific ordering/linking of content.
- 8.
In the mid-1990s we could navigate the Internet but we could only dwell in our electronic mailboxes, the one space that we could consider our own. The rest of the time we were just passing through, visiting, observing, understanding, extending our cultural knowledge, accumulating pictures of the surrounding landscape, but ultimately moving elsewhere.
- 9.
These are presented as introductory case studies and not as a complete analysis of a vast cultural phenomenon, for which two items only are certainly not an appropriate series. Also consider that the analysis takes into account the Italian cultural semiosphere. Some aspects might work differently—or be not pertinent—in other cultures.
- 10.
In semiotics, the point of view is “a set of procedures utilized by the enunciator in order to (…) diversify the reading which the enunciatee will make of the narrative” (Greimas and Courtés 1979, pp. 237–238). We discern the different points of view of the policeman and the robber, regardless of who is recounting the facts: emphasizing carefully chosen facets of “identity” at the expense of others modifies the point of view on identity itself.
- 11.
For example, compare the rigid predetermination offered by Facebook to the freedom and flexibility of earlier platforms such as MySpace.
- 12.
Joining groups or events works similarly.
- 13.
Note Twitter’s freedom from material support: the command set still works today through SMS and it is entirely possible to change one’s profile description (SET BIO <text>), send a direct message, or poke someone entirely via text messages.
- 14.
For an excellent, Foucault-inspired discussion of how our lives are turning into “lives in a digital panopticon”, see Rayner (2012).
- 15.
Interestingly enough, pictures have never be at the center of the Twitter publishing system, contrary to what happens on Facebook, where the use of pictures is supported as a best practice. In 2011, the Twitter user interface—both the website and its mobile counterparts—showed every image as a link within the text. As of 2013 this has changed, but the layout still renders text before any picture, preserving the design principle that textual content lies at the core of the Twitter experience.
- 16.
“Digital is real” was the theme for the Italian Information Architecture Conference 2013.
- 17.
For example, a project that tries to promote tourism in a region through an application with the same social architecture of Foursquare.
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Maggi, R. (2014). Toward a Semiotics of Digital Places. In: Resmini, A. (eds) Reframing Information Architecture. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06492-5_7
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