social network
social network
(communications)Social networks on the the web are a natural extension ofmailing lists and buletin boards. They are related towikis like http://wikipedia.org/ but typically do notallow users to modify content once it has been submitted,though usually you can publish comments on others'submissions.
Different sites have different emphasis. For example,http://friendsreunited.co.uk/ (one of the earliest suchsites) focusses on listing former acquaintances;http://myspace.com/ is music-oriented;http://linkedin.com/ aims to connect business partners;http://del.icio.us/, http://stumbleupon.com/ andhttp://digg.com/ are for exchanging links to favouiriteweb sites. There are many more.
Sometimes the social aspects are a side-effect of bringingtogether people with shared interests,e.g. http://slashdot.org/ (IT), other times they becomemore important than the original purpose,e.g. http://worldofwarcraft.com/ (fantasy gaming).
social network
An association of people drawn together by family, work or hobby. The term was first coined by professor J. A. Barnes in the 1950s, who defined the size of a social network as a group of 100 to 150 people.On the Web today, social sites such as Facebook and Twitter have expanded the concept of size by orders of magnitude. They allow families, friends, colleagues, celebrities and politicians to communicate with each other and the world. See social networking and social networking site.