What is social biography?

Answer 1

A social biography is a single, life story that is written by more than one author, and in which the collaborating authors are socially engaged. To be socially engaged, an author must feel a personal connection with the other authors.

The relationship between the authors and the subject can be direct, for example friends and family, or the authors can be socially connected through mutual interest. An example of this is a group of people who connect in order to write a life story about Bethoven, or some other subject of common interest. There is no need or requirement for the authors to know each other personally--what is truly important is that they feel socially connected as a result of their mutual participation and interest in the life story. As such, the story itself becomes more interesting because the social interaction among the authors naturally adjusts and tempers how each author recounts the past.

A social biography differs from a journal and a blog in that the latter places more value on the date in which content is published, than on the date of the experience. This of course, is because blogs and journals often capture the here-and-now, in addition to speculating the future. For this reason, their content is normally organized and explored by date published, with the most recently published entries listed first. In some cases, the content is loosely organized by keywords.

In a biography, it's much more important to know when, within the context of a persons life an experience occured. For example, when the subject won their first kick boxing trophy is more interesting and important than when the story was written. Because of this, a biography requires more information about the subject's life, and a reader should be able to explore the subject's life using a variety of methods.

When an individual is writing an autobiography, their story becomes a social biography if friends and family contribute to the story in a meaningful way. By retelling stories from the past with contributions from others who were there, the individual and their friends may develop a stronger social connection; and of course, new connections (virtual or physical) may be formed as a result of a common friend.

Contemporary social biographies are created using web applications that tap into social connections, and simplify the creation of distributed content. Deriving from the success of blogging services and family web sites, social biography services are a relatively new breed of software (as of this posting date). Whereas writing a biography was once done in solitude, social biographies allow authors to reminisce with their social network so the process is open, fun, and interesting.

One social biography service is www.Familyware.com, a service that emphasizes collaboration, privacy, and creating biographies as a series of short, easy to read and write entries.

Answer 2

Social biography is a type of biography that focuses on how an individual's life is shaped by societal institutions, cultural norms, and historical contexts. It looks beyond just the individual's personal experiences and accomplishments to explore the broader social forces that influence their life trajectory.