Social Networking

A History

What is a Social Network?

• A social network is a social structure made up of a set

of social actors (such as individuals or organizations)

and a set of the dyadic ties between these actors.

(Wikipedia)

Social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to

• construct a public or semi-public profile within a

bounded system,

• articulate a list of other users with whom they share a

connection,

• view and traverse their list of connections and those

made by others within the system.

History• SixDegrees.com • Launched in 1997• Allowed users to create profiles, list their friends and surf

friend lists• promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and

send messages to others.• Attracted Millions of users• Failed to become a sustainable business, closed in 2000.

History• Lunar Storm (Swedish)• Friend Lists• Guest books• Diary pages

• Live Journal• One directional connections• Follow journals• Manage privacy settings

• Ryze.com• First social network for people to leverage their business

networks

• LinkedIn • Similar thought• Became a powerful business service

• Friendster• Designed to compete with match.com• Gained traction by 2004• Encountered technical and social difficulties

• Orkut• A Google Service• Failed to create a substantial user base in the United States• But was popular elsewhere in the world in countries like

India and Brazil

2003• From 2003, Social networks came into the

mainstream.• There were so many that a term YASNS “ yet another

social networking service” was coined.• Most took the form of profile centric sites similar to

Friendster.

MySpace• Began in 2003

• Capitalized on Friendster’s alienation of its early adopters.

• Indie – rock bands were the major group who initially promoted MySpace.

• MySpace was not launched with bands in mind, but were welcomed.

• Differentiated itself by adding features based on user demand.

• Allowed users to personalize their pages.

• Teenagers started joining in 2004, en masse.

• News Corporation purchased MySpace for $580 million

,attracting massive media attention

• Afterwards, safety issues plagued MySpace.

• This lead to the downfall of the website.

Global Phenomenon

• Social Networks became a rage in many countries.

• Many countries started participating in various social

networks.

• The Chinese QQ instant messaging service instantly

became the largest SNS worldwide when it added

profiles and made friends visible

Facebook• Began in Early 2004• Designed to support distinct college networks only.• Required University Email at first• September 2005, Facebook expanded to High schools

and professional networks.• Eventually everyone was allowed into the system.

Facebook• change to open signup did not mean that new users

could easily access users in closed networks.• Exclusivity was maintained using admin approvals.• Unlike other SNSs, Facebook users are unable to make

their full profiles public to all users.• Another feature that differentiates Facebook is the

ability for outside developers to build "Applications" which allow users to personalize their profiles

People• Market research suggests many people using Social

networks.• Facebook has a user base of 1.2 Billion people and

celebrated its 10th anniversary.• The rise of social networks indicates a shift in the

organization of online communities.• While websites dedicated to communities of interest

still exist and prosper, social networks are primarily organized around people, not interests.