Users' Opinions on Public Displays that Aim to Increase Social Cohesion

In this paper we present results from a questionnaire on public displays that aim to increase social cohesion. The displays highlight unexpected social links between passers-by in urban areas, which might lead to the strengthening of existing links and even the creation of new links between people. The results from the questionnaire show that the majority of respondents believes that the proposed displays might increase social cohesion, and about half of them would use them. Some respondents however are afraid for their privacy, security, and being annoyed by strangers. For personal displays, which show information only about single persons, the most popular content are name, interests and contact options. For interpersonal displays, which show information about pairs of people, the most popular information are common friends and common interests. The popularity of the proposed displays however depended strongly on the social context where they would be used. We present a preliminary prototype of a personal display, which is deployed in a university context.