Social artifact

Social artifact is any product of individuals or groups (social beings) or of their social behavior.

Artifacts are the objects or products designed and used by people to meet re-occurring needs or to solve problems.

An example of a common social artifact is a document.

The philosopher Marx W. Wartofsky distinguished several types of artifacts:^[1]

• primary artifacts, which are used in production (e.g., a hammer, a fork, a lamp, a camera, etc.)
• secondary artifacts, which are representations of primary artifacts (e.g., a user manual for a camera)
• tertiary artifacts, which are representations of secondary artifacts

Social artifacts, unlike archeological artifacts, do not have to have a physical form (see for example virtual artifact), nor do they have to be of historical value (items created seconds ago can be classified as social artifacts).

See also

• Cultural artifact

References

Further reading

• Habib, Laurence, and Line Wittek (2007). The portfolio as artefact and actor. Mind, Culture and Activity, Vol. 14, No. 4, ISSN 1074-9039.