Making serendipity stick : translating short, live online interactions into meaningful relationships

Abstract

Deep personal connections foster rich learning. Making such connections is one of the most valuable benefits of attending face-to-face conferences. Online technologies offer the opportunity to meet with more people at a fraction of the cost. However, it is more challenging to experience the immediacy of face-to-face meetings in online gatherings and virtual conversations. Forming strong ties with people at conferences is much easier offline, than online, where it is easy to get distracted and harder to reach out and connect. This thesis extends Unhangout, a platform for online unconferences, and investigates how we can help people translate short, live online interactions into lasting relationships. I mimicked some of the successful features of the offline unconferences into an online experience on Unhangout. I designed and implemented a series of interventions around three distinct phases of an online event, "Who to connect with?", "How to connect with others?" and "How to stay connected?" and explored their impact on people's behaviors and ability to form relationships with each other. Throughout this study, the purpose is to help users of an online event make deeper and longer-lasting connections with other participants.