As social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn gain in popularity, it will be interesting to see what effect this has on email use. Could email be replaced by social network communications?.
What is a "Social Network"?
The idea behind a social network is very similar to an address book. Your social network starts with a list of people you know. This list contains details about each person, as provided by each person. Some might include phone numbers, addresses, and a picture of themselves — all typical features of an address book. Where a typical address book stops and a social network starts is the ability to have access to the address books belonging to the people inside your address book.
How much information your able to access in your social network depends on a few things, including:
- How deep your network is. This is affected by how many people are in your list and how big each person's list is.
- How much information people actually provide. Many people are still apprehensive about giving up information, and might only allow it to be revealed to people on there list and not to any one else.
- The commercial model of the social networking service. Some social networks like Facebook are making information more widely available, using advertising to make their money. Whereas LinkedIn charges fees for certain types of access rights or use of information within the network.
