Re: What is a social network?

Hi all.

Le 9 juin 09 à 16:09, Alex Korth a écrit :

> Hi Christine, all,
>
> this is an issue that I also see as being not clarified here: what  
> services are in and which are out? We should not re-invent the wheel  
> here. There is a definition of Social networking sites (SNS) by  
> Danah Boyd [1] which I like and which we could consider using:
>
> "We define social network sites as web-based services that allow  
> individuals to
> (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,
> (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a  
> connection, and
> (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by  
> others within the system.
> The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site  
> to site."

I strongly disagree with a definition in such terms. It cuts off most  
BBS and anonymous social networks (which are a very interesting, if  
hardly categorizable trend in current models).

The most obvious counter-example to Danah Boyd's definition is 4chan.  
It exhibits none of those features yet it's almost impossible to argue  
it's not “social” or a “social network”, as it has shown (sensible)  
discussion, group emergence and active collaboration.

The removal of profiles and “friending” may be enough to remove  
“network” from “social network” for some but I, for one, would argue  
that a platform without explicit profiles and friending is still an  
(implicit) social network that deserves to be studied and treated as  
such.


Cheers,
Tim

>
> On the other hand is this XG about the emerging Social Web, which is  
> more than just SNSs.
> To my understanding every site is "in" which has social features. To  
> provide, access and share these features and their content is what I  
> am interested in.
> I think we need to clarify our visions of the emerging Social Web to  
> improve the fundament of our work in this group.
> Should we have a wiki page for this? For now, find my 2 cents here  
> [2]. What is your visions?
>
> Cheers,
> Alex
>
> [1] http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html
> [2] http://socialconnect.info/trac/wiki/VisionVault
>
> Christine Perey schrieb:
>> I was asking myself, when populating the list of 30 popular  
>> community services: What defines (for those of us in this W3C XG) a  
>> service as being unequivocally on the list and why?
>> Do we all have the same definition of social networking? Judging  
>> from the services on the first list on this wiki page [1], probably  
>> not.
>> I suggest that we take a stab at a W3C Social Web XG 'accepted'  
>> definition of scope.
>> Playing the devils' advocate here:
>> One of the problems with a public/published W3C definition of  
>> "social web" or "social networking" is that it may need to be  
>> examined regularly and modified/updated. Where will the boundaries  
>> every end?  Social networking ("community") features are beginning  
>> to permeate many other (previously non social) digital services.  
>> There are already and will be more social "features" added to  
>> everything.
>> Some examples:
>> + a music (or any entertainment content) service where people rate  
>> the tunes, movies, etc   + a weather service in which you can see  
>> the weather near your friends,
>>  + a local nightclub search service on which you see where your  
>> friends have already congregated,
>>  + an auction service on which your friends or taste neighbors  
>> offer opinions/advice before you conclude a purchase
>> Take this out into the distance and what you have is an infinite  
>> list of socially-aware services. Everything is social...
>> [1] http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/socialweb/wiki/TopSocialNetworkingSites
>> Christine Spime Wrangler
>> cperey@perey.com <mailto:cperey@perey.com>
>> mobile (Swiss): +41 79 436 68 69
>> from US: +1 (617) 848 8159
>> from anywhere (Skype): Christine_perey
>>
>
> -- 
> Alexander Korth
> alex@cityfinger.com
> m +49-1577-1704501
>
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Received on Tuesday, 9 June 2009 15:03:30 UTC