New technology offers new opportunities for enhancing existing social
practices and creating new forms of social participation. At the same
time, new technology can be disruptive; at times, even destructive, if it
is applied without careful consideration for social implications. Most
famously, the purpose of the automobile is transportation. Yet, the
widespread introduction of the automobile has contributed significantly to
the destruction of the traditional nuclear family as well as the decay of
many central urban areas, increased pollution, and enabled hundreds of
thousands of accident fatalities.

A more recent example involves the use of electronic voting. On the one
hand, this offers the potential to help widen participation in traditional
elections and even broaden the relevant education and participation of the
electorate. On the other hand, if improperly designed and deployed, they
raise the spector of complete disenfranchisement.

The purpose of a socio-technical pattern language is to provide guidance
in the design, development, deployment, and evaluation of technology based
on recurring problems and solutions. Some of these patterns are based on
modern practices which have been shown to have worked. Others are based
more on extensions of more ancient practices.

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