Subject of SNS Design : The semiotic concept of self as developed by Peirce and Bakhtin/Volosinov

SNS such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, etc. have surged in popularity, permeating major aspects of our everyday lives with their power as tools of mass communication. My interest with SNS lies not only in its interconnectedness, but also in its interface design mechanism. Based on the semiotic theories developed by C.S. Peirce and Bakhtin/Volosinov, the main argument in this paper is that interface designs of SNS are created not by the designers alone, but through a designer-user community. Facebook page design, has been changed dramatically several times, invoking widespread complaints. Design production in this kind of interconnected social system arises through the course of the interlocutions between the users and the designers. Peirce’s illumination of ‘self’ and ‘man-sign’ as well as Volosinov’s explanation of ‘verbal interaction’ and ‘inner speech’ could be relevant for this situation. I propose that these two semioticians offer us plausible explanations regarding the intersubjectivity of SNS design mechanisms and how collective intelligence is formed and works in our era of the online social network.