Editing Social network

A '''social network''' is a group of people, not larger than about 150 people, who help each other without making it conditional on the exact situation.  This is not like a [[contact network]], [[creative network]] or [[power network]], which put very specific conditions on help.

''The [http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_network Simple English article on 'social network'] has more detail.''

http://www.ischool.washington.edu/mcdonald/cscw04/

===Social network analysis===

"The key notion from network analysis, that the interconnections between people can be used to understand and improve their interactions, has clear implications for [[CSCW]] research into communication systems, teamwork, and [[knowledge management]]."  [http://www.ischool.washington.edu/mcdonald/cscw04/]

Key topics include:

Measurement - how are social networks being collected and measured? 

Tools - what is the state-of-the-art for analyzing, visualizing and representing social networks? 

Application - how are systems embedding social networks into the fabric of their design, and how can system designers distill the complexities of networks into user-oriented displays? 

Evaluation - how does the use of social network systems change, facilitate, or hinder users and their collaborations?"

In general, '''[[social network]] analysis''' may play a formal role in determining what information affects the [[Consumerium buying signal]] and may also impact the way some aspects of [[power structure]] are interpreted.  

More references:

http://www.netform.com/html/information.html

http://www.acm.org/cscw2004/prog_workshops.html

See also the various [[social network service]]s.