PA159
Net-centric computing
Social Media & Social Networks
What is Social Media

A group of Internet-based
applications that build on
the ideological and
technological foundations
of Web 2.0, and that
allow the creation and
exchange of usergenerated
content.

Kaplan, Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein
(2010). "Users of the world, unite! The
challenges and opportunities of Social
Media". Business Horizons 53 (1): 59–68.
How big is Social Media?
112.8 million blogs and over
250 million pieces of tagged
social media in June 2008, a
specialist blog search engine
More than 13 million hours of
video were uploaded during
2010 and 48 hours of video
per minute, resulting in nearly
8 years of content uploaded
every day
More than 800 million active
users
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technorati, http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics,
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
Addiction to Social Media

Social media services
“may be addictive.”

The average user spends
approximately 55
minutes a day engaging
in a social media service,
which may make the user
develop a “fear of
missing out,” or
withdrawal symptoms if
such a user is deprived
of it for a certain amount
of time.
Source: A day without social media, University of Maryland, College Park, USA -
http://withoutmedia.wordpress.com/
Addiction to Social Media

Students use literal terms of addiction to characterize their
dependence on media.

Students hate going without media. In their world, going
without media, means going without their friends and family.

Students show no significant loyalty to a news program,
news personality or even news platform. They get news in a
disaggregated way, often via friends.

18-21 year old college students are constantly texting and
on Facebook—with calling and email distant seconds as
ways of staying in touch, especially with friends.

Students could live without their TVs and the newspaper,
but they can’t survive without their iPods.
How addicted do you feel?
Characteristics of Social Media

Participation: it blurs the line between media and
audience.

Openness: Everyone has a voice. Content seen as
authentic and trustworthy?

Conversation: Two (or more) way conversation
between people rather than one-way broadcasting.

Community: Support formation, growth and strength of
communities around a particular shared interest.

Connectedness: Thrives on being connected, making
use of links to other sites, resources, people.
Source: Mayfield, Anthony. 2007. What is Social Media? (Online resource:
http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBooks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebo
ok.pdf). ICrossing.
First popular web browser:
Mosaic (1993)

Protocols supported:
Archie, FTP, gopher,
HTTP, NNTP, telnet,
WAIS

Display images inline
with text instead of
displaying images in a
separate window
How the web worked during the
1990s
Web 2.0 Darcy DiNucci (January
1999)

The Web we know now, which loads into a browser
window in essentially static screenfuls, is only an
embryo of the Web to come. The first glimmerings of
Web 2.0 are beginning to appear, and we are just
starting to see how that embryo might develop. The
Web will be understood not as screenfulls of text and
graphics but as a transport mechanism, the ether
through which interactivity happens. It will [...] appear
on your computer screen, [...] on your TV set [...] your
car dashboard [...] your cell phone [...] hand-held
game machines [...] maybe even your microwave
oven.
Web 2.0 Core technologies
Client-side:

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax)

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flex framework

JavaScript/Ajax frameworks such as YUI
Library, Dojo Toolkit, MooTools, and jQuery
Server-side:

PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python and JSP
REST (JSON and XML)
AJAX

The term Ajax was coined on February 18,
2005 by Jesse James Garrett in an article
entitled "Ajax: A New Approach to Web
Applications"

Outlook Web Access (2000) and Oddpost
(2002), and later, Google made a wide
deployment of Ajax with Gmail (2004) and
Google Maps

The keyword here is: Asynchronous
What is AJAX?

HTML (or XHTML) and CSS for presentation

The Document Object Model (DOM) for
dynamic display of and interaction with data

XML for the interchange of data, and XSLT for
its manipulation

The XMLHttpRequest object for asynchronous
communication

JavaScript to bring these technologies together
Graphical representation of AJAX
A more technical depiction AJAX
Web 2.0 and Social Media
Tremendous change in our lives
Social media is here to stay
Basic forms of Social Media

Social Networks (MySpace, Facebook,
Researchgate)

Blogs

Wikis (Wikipedia)

Podcast (Apple iTunes)

Forums

Content communities (Flickr, Youtube)

Microblogging (Twitter)
What is a social network?
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.
Anna Buss, Nancy Strauss define online
communities as Web sites where user
relationships develop.
Source: Buss, A. and Strauss, N., Online Community Handbook: Building Your Business
and Brand on the Web, 2009
Comparison of Social Networks
and Online Communities (1)
A social network: An online community:
has an organizational structure
focused around an individual
user’s one-to-one relationships
has an organizational structure
focused around a shared
purpose rather than one-to-one
relationships
has weak secondary
connections between
members
has strong, predictable
secondary relationships among
members
allows its users to be
members of many
communities in the network at
the same time
is distinct from other communities
because of differences in
purpose, policies, and computing
environment
Source: Elsevier - Morgan Kaufmann Design to Thrive Creating Social Networks Edition
2010
Comparison of Social Networks
and Online Communities (2)
A social network: An online community
is good for sharing activities is good for activities requiring
sharing and cooperating
is less effective at activities
requiring cooperation and
collective action
is effective at providing the
framework for activities
requiring collective action
makes it easier for users to
build communities
should not be confused with
“adhocracies,” “discussion
groups,” “forums,” or “lists”
Source: Elsevier - Morgan Kaufmann Design to Thrive Creating Social Networks Edition
2010
Shirky's ladder
 Sharing
Ideal for social networks, i.e. exchanging photos
 Cooperation
takes more effort and demands more complexity,
organizing activity for gathering resources for a party,
strong secondary connections needed
 Collective action
dealing with large organizational structures, such as
unions, government agencies, corporations.
Social network sites
Social network sites are defined 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. The
nature and nomenclature of these connections
may vary from site to site.
Source: boyd, d. m. and Ellison, N. B. (2007), Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and
Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 210–230.
“social network site” <> “social
networking sites”
Two things to keep in mind, emphasis and scope

““Networking” emphasizes relationship initiation, often
between strangers.”

“Participants are not necessarily “networking” or
looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily
communicating with people who are already a part of
their extended social network.”
“What makes social network sites unique is not that they
allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they
enable users to articulate and make visible their social
networks.”
Source: boyd, d. m. and Ellison, N. B. (2007), Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and
Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 210–230.
Ingredients for a social network
site (1)
Construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system
Ingredients for a social network
site (2)
Articulate a list of other users with whom they share
a connection
Ingredients for a social network
site (3)
View and traverse their list of connections and
those made by others within the system.
Technological Aspects of Social Media
& SNS
Facebook technologies

The company is the largest user in the world of
memcached, an open source caching system, and has one
of the largest MySQL database clusters anywhere.

Second most-trafficked PHP site in the world (Yahoo is #1)

Lightweight but powerful multi-language RPC framework
that allows us to seamlessly and easily tie together
subsystems written in any language, running on any
platform.

Facebook is built in PHP, C++, Perl, Python, Erlang, Java.

We've created a custom-built search engine serving
millions of queries a day, completely distributed and entirely
in-memory, with real-time updates.
MYSQL

Relational database
management system
(RDBMS) that runs as
a server providing
multi-user access to a
number of databases.

It is named after
developer Michael
Widenius' daughter,
My. The SQL phrase
stands for Structured
Query Language.
What is memcached?

Free & open source, high-performance, distributed
memory object caching system, generic in nature, but
intended for use in speeding up dynamic web
applications by alleviating database load.

Memcached is an in-memory key-value store for small
chunks of arbitrary data (strings, objects) from results
of database calls, API calls, or page rendering.

Memcached is simple yet powerful. Its simple design
promotes quick deployment, ease of development,
and solves many problems facing large data caches.
Its API is available for most popular languages.
Why memcached?
A memcached example
How many servers does
Facebook have?

In a presentation in
November 2009,
Facebook vice president
of technology Jeff
Rothschild disclosed that
the company had more
than 30,000 servers.

Tom Cook at last week’s
Velocity 2010 conference
presented this figure in
his presentation.
Effectively making the
servers 60.000 or more!
Facebook's infrastructure
probably doesn't look like this
PHP

Created by Rasmus Lerdorf and released in
1995
Can be used for:

Server-side scripting

Command line scripting

Writing desktop applications
PHP usage today
An example of binding all the
technologies
Social aspects of Social Networks
Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs
Needs Real life Online communities
Physiological Food, clothing, shelter,
health
System access, retain
management of system
identity
Security and Safety Protection from crimes and
war, living in a just society
Protection from hacking and
trolling, privacy, level playing
field
Social Ability to give and receive
love, belonging to a group
Belonging to a community
as a whole and swarms
(subgroups)
Self-esteem Ability to earn self respect,
respect of others and ability
to contribute
Ability to contribute and be
recognised for those
contributions
Self Actualisation Develop skills Take on new roles and new
opportunities
Source: Amy J. Kim. Community Building on the Web : Secret Strategies for
Successful Online Communities. Peachpit Press, April 2000.
Security and Safety & Self-
Esteem
Eliminating:

Aggressive content

Racist content

Pornographic content

Misinterpret content

Abuse

Cyber bullying

Copyright issues
Moderating the content
Youtube's automated approach:
What is the Content ID tool?
The Content ID tool is the latest way YouTube
offers copyright holders to easily identify and
manage their content on YouTube. The tool
creates ID files which are then run against user
uploads and, if a match occurs, the copyright
holders policy preferences are then applied to
that video. Rights owners can choose to block,
track or monetize their content.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/t/contentid
Youtube's Content ID Video
Software moderation:
Bullytracer's example
 Rules based on a
dictionary of key words
are used to classify a
window of posts.
 A truth set of MySpace
threads was created.
 found correctly windows
containing cyberbullying
85.30%, and it identifies
innocent 51.91%
 The overall accuracy is
58.63%.
Source: Bayzick, Jennifer and Kontostathis, April and Edwards, Lynne (2011) Detecting the
Presence of Cyberbullying Using Computer Software. pp. 1-2. In: Proceedings of the ACM
WebSci'11, June 14-17 2011, Koblenz, Germany.
Best approach: Mixed-Methods(?)
 Moderators as the main protective force of a
social network site
 Users contributing by reporting what
moderators cannot see or do not have enough
time to see(such as personal messages)
 Software used to detect suspicious messages
which moderators can investigate later on and
evaluate them
Cooperative principle

Maxim of Quality: Be Truthful: Do not say what you
believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack
adequate evidence.

Maxim of Quantity: Quantity of Information: Make your
contribution as informative as is required. Do not make
your contribution more informative than is required.

Maxim of Relevance: Relevance: Be relevant.

Maxim of Manner: Be Clear: Avoid obscurity of
expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be brief (avoid
unnecessary prolixity). Be orderly.
Source: Grice, Paul (1975). "Logic and conversation". In Syntax and Semantics, 3: Speech
Acts, ed. P. Cole & J. Morgan. New York: Academic Press. Reprinted in Studies in the Way
of Words, ed. H. P. Grice, pp. 22–40. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (1989)
Example: Maxim of Quality
The Friendster case
How old is Friendster?
Friendster highlights
 Friendster is built on the assumption that friends-offriends
are more likely to be good dates than
strangers.
 While Stanley Milgram argues that everyone is
connected within 6 degrees, Friendster only allows
you to see or communicate with those who are within
4 degrees.
 Friendster encourages users to join even if they are
not looking for dates Friendster launched into public
beta in the fall of 2002. By mid-August 2003, the site
had 1.5 million registered accounts and was still
growing exponentially.
danah boyd (2003). "Reflections on Friendster, Trust and Intimacy." Ubiquitous Computing
(Ubicomp 2003), Workshop application for the Intimate Ubiquitous Computing Workshop.
Seattle, WA, October 12-15, 2003.
Technical Difficulties
 Friendster's servers and
databases were illequipped
to handle its
rapid growth, and the
site faltered regularly,
frustrating users who
replaced email with
Friendster.
Social difficulties
 Upset cultural
balance
 Collapse in social
contexts
 Fakesters & Trophy
Friends
Friendster's solution
 Active deletion of
Fakesters (and genuine
users who chose nonrealistic
photos) signaled
to some that the
company did not share
users' interests.
 Many early adopters left
because of the
combination of technical
difficulties, social
collisions, and a rupture
of trust between users
and the site
Source: boyd, d. m. and Ellison, N. B. (2007), Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and
Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 210–230.
Friendster's Violations of
Mazlow's Hierarchy
 Psysiological (Restricting access either
intentionally or unintentionally)
 Social (Not allowing users to form subgroups
based on their interests)
 Self Actualization (Not allowing users to form
their identities as they wish or use pictures
other than the ones with their real faces)
Social network analysis
Social Network Analysis
 It is useful for
investigations of
kinship patterns,
community structure,
interlocking
directorships and so
forth
 It is mainly an
analysis for relational
data
Kinds of Nodes
 Individuals: persons, other animals
 Collectivities: organizations, departments,
teams, troops, countries, cities, species
Relations Among People
 Kinship: - mother of, wife of
 Other role-based: boss of, teacher of, friend of
 Cognitive/perceptual: knows, aware of what
they know
 Affective: likes, trusts
 Interactions: give advice, talks to, fights with
 Affiliations: belongs to same clubs, is physically
near
Each relations yields a different structure & has
different effect!
Examples of Networks
An example of Social Network Analysis
study
Goals
 How network analysis could allow us to capture
the social structure of the high school staff and
teachers at the start of a whole-school health
promotion intervention?
 Identify key players or gatekeepers who might
be crucial to getting the intervention off the
ground
 Mapping networks systematically at the start of
an intervention, and analyzing them
mathematically
Location and sample
 High school in Alberta,
Canada with total
student population 556.
 Mental health promotion
intervention modeled on
the experience of the
successful Gatehouse
project in Australia
 Staff and teachers were
our focus for the first
stage of the intervention.
 Map five relations across all teachers and staff in the
school based on initial consultation and pilot.
 Relations:
– knew a person by name
– knew a person more personally
– engaged in regularly occurring conversations with a
person
– sought advice from a person in relation to a school
matter
– socialized with that person outside of school hours
 Self administered questionnaires sent to staff and
teachers with questions focused on usual transactions
and routine relationships.
Design method
UCINET
Analysis Methods
 Network degree centralization score
 Network betweenness centralization score: measure
of strategic advantage and information control.
 Two-step reach measure of the extent to which any
person could mobilize resources or convey information
by reaching out to others.
 Others are measures about an individual person's
position in the network.
 Classified people as: teachers, support staff,
administration
 Also conducted analysis of gender
Basic characteristics of the five
networks (n = 50)
Relationship Density
score(%
)
Degree
centralizati
on score(%)
Betweenness
centralization
score (%)
Socialize with
outside of school
5.9 19.4 14.4
Seek advice 15.2 54.0 23.4
Engage in
conversation
regularly
25.5 39.3 4.8
Know personally 29.0 38.9 4.63
Recognize by
name
65.9 27.4 1.47
Advice seeking network
Principal and Vice principal
 The Principal has 37 direct ties and the Vice Principal
has 35 direct ties in the advice-seeking network.
 Freeman's degree centrality measure: 76%, 71%
 Betweenness centrality: The Principal has four times
the score of Vice Principal for betweenness centrality
because the Principal is connected to some people
who otherwise seek advice from no one.
 This increases his power and potentially makes him
more important or crucial.
Conclusions (1)
 Density was related to what might thought of as
the intensity of the relationship.
 Network density was higher for more superficial
relationships, such as knowing a person by
name, and smaller for socializing.
 The density for knowing-by-name was lower
than we had expected at 65%.
 That is, more people are in that awkward
position of encountering other staff and
teachers, but not being addressed by their
name.
Conclusions (2)
 No isolates in the know-by-name network.
Everyone was linked to someone, including all
10 newcomers.
 Seeking advice was centered around the
Principal and Vice Principal
 Seven people were unconnected in the adviceseeking
network, a phenomenon which could
be addressed, if perceived as a problem.
Applications
 As an example, low density in the socializing network
is acceptable, but that low density, and in particular
the presence of isolated people, in the advice-seeking
network is not
 Another common type of analysis is to search for
cliques or closely connected subgroups. Diagnostics
depend on the goals and purpose of the researcher.
 Identifying people of strategic influence, so that
interventions can be tailored to them. Identify and
recruit natural leaders or helpers in communities.
Summary (1)
 Social media and social network sites are tools, online
communities may use many of these tools
 There is a great variety of technologies out there for
developing social media & social networks (php,
HTML5, python, MySQL, Memcached, Javascript,
AJAX, Adobe Flash)
 Scaling up poses multiple technological and
sociological challenges even for famous social
network sites today
 There are many ways of developing and maintaining a
social network site. The options for the software and
the overall design are highly depended to each site.
Summary (2)
 Technology changes rapidly; Humans don't! Social
media & SNS science is an interdisciplinary field
where the social part is intertwined with technological.
 Mazlow's hierarchy applied for online user needs can
help as a general guideline for developing tools.
Providing access and security should be the first and
most important steps for building a community.
Further Reading
 John P. Scott. Social Network Analysis: A
Handbook. Sage Publications Ltd; 2nd edition
(March 2000)
 John P Scott (Editor), Peter Carrington (Editor).
The SAGE Handbook of Social Network
Analysis. Sage Publications Ltd (May 25, 2011)
 Penelope Hawe and Laura Ghali Use of social
network analysis to map the social relationships
of staff and teachers at school Health Educ.
Res. (2008) 23(1): 62-69 first published online
February 7, 2007 doi:10.1093/her/cyl162
Further Reading
 Tharon Howard, Elsevier - Morgan Kaufmann Design to
Thrive Creating Social Networks Edition 2010
 Amy J. Kim. Community Building on the Web : Secret
Strategies for Successful Online Communities. Peachpit
Press, April 2000.
 boyd, d. m. and Ellison, N. B. (2007), Social Network Sites:
Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of ComputerMediated
Communication, 13: 210–230.
 Mayfield, Anthony. 2007. What is Social Media? (Online
resource:http://www.icrossing.co.uk/fileadmin/uploads/eBo
oks/What_is_Social_Media_iCrossing_ebook.pdf).
ICrossing.
 Kaplan, Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein (2010). "Users of
the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of
Social Media". Business Horizons 53 (1): 59–68.