Social Procedure

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When writing code, a programmer does not have to worry that the computer may suddenly decide that the next instruction is not worth its time. However, when designing a social procedure in which individual agents are performing each instruction, such a situation could arise. A successful piece of social software, i.e., procedures involving the interactions between multiple agents, will ensure that each agent can and will perform each action assigned to it. This implies that someone designing social software should keep in mind not only the flow of information in a multi-agent setting but also game-theoretic considerations such as trying to find a mutually preferred outcome.