Taiwanese and American cultures have different divisions between the trichotomy of public vs private vs intimate life. Taiwan culture seems to strictly divide public life and private life, with much more relaxed boundaries between private and intimate life. American culture, in contrast, has a more relaxed division between public and private life, while maintaining a very tangible boundary between private and intimate life. It’s most easy to elaborate on this architecturally:
Public vs Private: Fences: The archetypal American fence is the white picket fence. More symbolic than practical, it’s waist-high, non-imposing and it doesn’t do much to impede visibility of the interior for outsiders. The typical Taiwanese fence is a bit more imposing: seven feet high, cement, 6 inches thick, and (as if that wasn’t enough!) shards of broken glass embedded into the top to deter burglars. (And, no, this isn’t motivated by higher crime rates, though that was my first guess, too).
Private vs Intimate: Home layout. The typical American home has a bunch of bedrooms, separate from one another. When I was growing up, lots of kids would even close/lock their bedroom doors, to get that extra bit of privacy. The traditional Taiwanese home (not the modern flats, but rather the ones out in the countryside from 50 years ago) has bedrooms all connected. The master bedroom is in the very back, and to get through it, one has to walk through all the other bedrooms in series.
So, knowing this, what are the repercussions of public vs private vs intimate on use of the internet, social networks, and social software in general? Do we need to design for different cultures differently, especially in forums where people interact?
[some thoughts after spending a few weeks in Taiwan over the holidays, partially inspired by seeing a local Taiwanese parody of an American white picket fence, that reached less than knee-high]