Social network analysis
A social network consists of any group of people connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds. Members of a social network may not have any real awareness of the network as a whole.
The rule of 150 states that the size of a genuine social network is limited to about 150 members.
Social networks are often the basis of cross-cultural studies in sociology and anthropology. The rule of 150, mentioned above, arises from cross-cultural studies in sociology and especially anthropology of the maximum size of a village (in modern parlance most reasonably understood as an ecovillage). It is theorized in evolutionary psychology that the number may be some kind of limit of average human ability to recognize members and track emotional facts about all members of a group. However, it may be due to economics and the need to track "free riders", as larger groups tend to be easier for cheats and liars to prosper in. Either way, it would seem that social capital is maximized by this size.
There is also "social network analysis", the mapping and measuring of social networks. Mathematical techniques, for example, graph theory underpin computer tools (like UCINet) that are relatively easy to use. These hide the maths and present graphical images of the networks. Because of these tools, Social Network Analysis has attracted the attention of business organization researchers (The Hidden Power of Social Networks by Cross and Parker, 2004).
Joi Ito suggests that the concept of the social network is crucial to what he calls emergent democracy — the vital link between the creative network of at most a dozen people, and the global power networks created by religion, language, tribe and kin affiliations, and ethical traditions associated with them. These he sees as the only path to a so-called Second Superpower. Clearly, the rule of 150 may not apply and the members - although constituant parts - could have no awareness of the whole. Similarly with social networks created through some uses of the web.
Internet social networks
Online social networks became a fad in 2003 with the popularity of such websites as Friendster, Tribe.net and LinkedIn. Search engine Google launched orkut on 22 January 2004. Kibop, a Spanish- and Portuguese-language social network, also debuted in 2004.
Sites such as LiveJournal, which encourages interconnection of weblogs, approaches this idea. Further evolution of this idea is the Semantic Social Network, which interconnects both people and weblogs, such as StumbleUpon and Funchain.
Social networks can also be organized around business concepts, as for example in the case of Ecademy, ReferNet or Shortcut.
Social network and community networking are generating innovative approaches to civil society organizations' work towards sustainable development.
See also
External links
- Robin Dunbar and the Magic Number of 150
- PieSpy - Social Network Bot Inferring and Visualizing Social Networks on IRC