Webscience, ‘social machines’ and principles for re- designing theories of agency: a prolegomenon

This paper argues that the advent of the WWW and the principles now developing for the move ‘social machines’ has posed serious challenges to traditional social theory. In particular, it is argued that the concept of social machines and the forms of distributed agency they imply amplify ‘deep flaws’ in the underlying principles of current agency theories that make empirical work using such frameworks ‘undecidable’. The occasioning of social machines and the WWW here are examined for the ways in which the traditional models of agency, involving reflexivity/skill dynamics, can be dismantled and new principles for re-designed agency theory posed. One key problem and three re-design principles are identified.