Social networking

Nigel Gibson

AL Conference 07/06/08

What are we going to do?• We’ll look at what we might mean by “social networks”• We’ll look at the topography of online social networks• I’ll offer a fast pass over some current technologies and

SociaLearn• We’ll have a chat about all this stuff

IX

Before we start• Do you read Wikipedia?• Do you use Amazon?• Do you use IMDB?• Do you edit Wikipedia?• Do you offer reviews on Amazon?• Do you offer reviews on IMDB?

In the beginning• As a basic unit a family is a

social network

• And it’s part of a wider network

So……• The relationships might be through work, children’s

school or activities, wider family, neighbours• We might not know all the people a partner or child or

parent knows• This means we can access different networks through

our closest network

A network• My friends

• …………. all have friends

You get the idea

People • So you have friends and they have friends• You might know some and you might not know others

but they are FOAF• Friends of a friend

Online social networking

Primordial soup• In the beginning there was ARPA net (1969)• And CYCLADES (Early 70s)• And ALOHANet (1970)(My favourite)• And other local and national networks• And, finally, The Internet linked them all together into

a network of networks (from 1974)• And what drove all these developments was people

wanting to talk to each other

Online• One of the first viable online communities was

The WELL (the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) established in 1985 and still going strong

• Started in the Bay area of San Franscisco on a bulletin board

• They “engineered” the start by charging membership but inviting “interesting” people to join for free

• Then, in 1991, the web arrived

The kids are alright• Fast forward because the birth and development of the

WWW is a whole different story• As of 31 March 2008, 1.407 billion people use the

Internet according to Internet World Stats• Friends Reunited - launched 2000, sold in 2005 for

£120M with 15M users• MySpace started in 2002 - 110 million members• 15 million people use Geni.com to build their family tree• Other SNS include Bebo, Hi5 and FaceParty

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Blogs• As soon as people could write to the Internet some

started keeping online journals• This became more widespread as the web made

setting up and keeping a blog a simple task – a blog is a “web log”

• Some are influential in specific areas – frequently American politics

FaceBook• Originally started so that US college graduates could

keep in touch• 70 million users

So people are talking• And sharing things• Flickr to share photos• YouTube to share videos• Slideshare to share presentations• Share bookmarks on Del.icio.us• We can aggregate what we are doing on FriendFeed• And in doing so we create networks

Instant• Twitter is a microblogging site• Messages (tweets) limited to 140 characters• Can be sent from mobile devices• Delivered in real time• Can be distributed to other applications• Find and follow friends and friends of friends

So what is it all for?• We “manage” who we talk and listen to • Some of my FOAFs are very smart indeed• I can access a network of experts• Relationships of trust• “Hive mentality”, synergy, power of collaboration• About psychogeography

So what is it all for?

http://nogbad.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/how-social-networks-work/

Someone can answer my question

Why do people contribute?• Gift economy – not a new idea, dates back to the Stone

Age• Reciprocal altruism• By contributing we create capital – we increase the

chances of being helped if they have a question• We add value to the global commons

SociaLearn assumption• There is a major shift in society and education driven

by the possibilities new technologies create for creating and sharing content and for social networking

• NB: This is a dialogue about futures – not a prediction• SociaLearn suggests that instead of a VLE we’ll create

personal learning environments

http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/socialearn/index.php

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To quote a good book

Image from: http://is.gd/rH1

Summary• we can use the web as passive consumers or• we can become activists and• contribute but• whatever we do• we can still turn it all off

If you want to try• Take a look round• Find somewhere you feel comfortable

– Blogger– Wikipedia– Twitter

• Watch what others are doing• Dip your toe in the water

Any questions?