Social Networks And Group Formation, a review

Boxes and Arrows published the first of a three part series on Social Networks written by me. Its a literature review with practical tips for practitioners involved in designing, building and evangelizing social networks.

Humans suffer from information overload; there’s much more information on any given subject than a person is able to access. As a result, people are forced to depend upon each other for knowledge. Know-who information rather than know-what, know-how or know-why information has become most crucial. It involves knowing who has the needed information and being able to reach that person (Johnson et al. 2000).

In this context, understanding the formation, evolution and utilization of online social networks becomes important. A social network is “a set of people (or organizations or other social entities) connected by a set of social relationships, such as friendship, co-working or information exchange.” (Garton et al., 1997) While the Internet contributes to the information overload, it also provides useful tools to effectively manage one’s social networks and through them gain access to the right pieces of information.

For more visit, Boxes and Arrows and let me know if you think I've left out some major contributions.