Online Social
Networks: an essential part in today’s life
The world of web has witnessed colossal changes
in the past decade. Web usage has seen a tremendous variation, from a mere
browsing platform to a central hub of social interactions. Emails, blogs, and
social networks form an indispensable part of daily life of an average
individual, with social networking topping the list. The advent of Web 2.0[1]
applications has made social networking the de-facto standard of communication
among internet users across all age groups, worldwide. Usage of these social
networking sites varies from online shopping (ex www.flipcart.com,ebay), online
knowledge base (ex-Wikipedia), business profiles (LinkedIn), online journalism
(blogs) to social interaction with friends, family and professional colleagues
online. Every day, 41% of Facebook users and 27% of Twitter users log on to
their pages, four out of ten doing so before they get dressed or have breakfast
[2, 3]. Influence of these sites on human minds is statistically visible, 9 percent
of digital news consumers follow the recommendations from Twitter and Face Book
[4].
With the advent of social network it has become
very popular trend for people to share what they are doing and what they are
feeling regarding certain topics across various social network platform. Now a
days we have vast amount of description, comments and rating for various
services. This information is valuable as it provides individual spontaneous
emotional realities.
A social network is a social structure made up of
individuals (or organizations) called "nodes", which are tied
(connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as
friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual
relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.
A network is defined as an object composed of
entities interacting each other through some connections.Many systems
represented in the form of networks, with sets of nodes or vertices connected
together in pairs by links or edges. A natural mean, to mathematically
represent a network is through a graph model.
Impact of Social
Network
Social Networking has altered the level and style
of societal bonding. It has affected the way we connect, share and build
relationships with people and communities around the globe. Analyzing the
current trends, it is obvious that the years to come will witness major changes
in terms of connectivity, as the social web continues to evolve and adapt to
our habits and technology. This dynamic scenario drives the research community
towards development of innovative techniques to provide an enhanced amiable and
hassle free social interactive environment. Efforts in this direction are
already visible.
Social sites are primarily a major source of information
exchange both personal and professional. The presence of
SNS is being felt in every other sector for various activities example-:
e-commerce, e-banking, e-learning, healthcare and travel.
The technological
empowerment of the communication in Social Network has become vital for
deriving optimum benefits from emerging change of communication. The popularity
of these sites provides a unique opportunity to study the characteristics and
dynamics of social networks at large scale.
References:
[1] Hendler, J.
and Goldbeck, J., 2008, Metcalfe's law, web 2.0 and the Semantic Web. J. Web
Sem. 6(1):14-20.
[2] Digital
Surgeons, 2010. Social demographics 2010: A fresh look at Facebook and Twitter.
Message posted: http://www.digitalsurgeons.com/blog/design/social
demographics-2010-a-fresh-look-at-facebookand- twitter.
[3]
Integer/iModerate, 2011, Social Networking and Brand Engagement Research.
[4] PEW Research center’s project for excellence
in journalism 2012 state of the news media.
Ms. Puja Munjal
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Information Technology
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