Social Networking

1. A History Social Networking

2. 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)

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. History • Lunar Storm (Swedish) • Friend Lists • Guest books • Diary pages • Live Journal • One directional connections • Follow journals • Manage privacy settings

6. Ryze.com • First social network for people to leverage their business networks • LinkedIn • Similar thought • Became a powerful business service

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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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.