What Is A Social Network?

Wikipedia defines a social network service as a service which “focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others, and which necessitates the use of software.” [1].

A report published by OCLC provides the following definition of social networking sites: “Web sites primarily designed to facilitate interaction between users who share interests, attitudes and activities, such as Facebook, Mixi and MySpace.” [2]

What Can Social Networks be Used For?

Social networks can provide a range of benefits to members of an organisation:

Support for learning

Social networks can enhance informal learning and support social connections within groups of learners and with those involved in the support of learning.

Support for members of an organisation

Social networks can potentially be used my all members of an organisation and not just those involved in working with students. Social networks can help the development of communities of practice.

Engaging with others

Passive use of social networks can provide valuable business intelligence and feedback on institutional services (although this may give rise to ethical concerns).

Ease of access to information and applications

The ease of use of many social networking services can provide benefits to users by simplifying access to other tools and applications. The Facebook Platform provides an example of how a social networking service can be used as an environment for other tools.

Common interface

A possible benefit of social networks may be the common interface which spans work / social boundaries. Since such services are often used in a personal capacity the interface and the way the service works may be familiar, thus minimising training and support needed to exploit the services in a professional context. This can, however, also be a barrier to those who wish to have strict boundaries between work and social activities.

Examples Of Social Networking Services

Examples of popular social networking services include:

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking Web site that allows people to communicate with their friends and exchange information. In May 2007 Facebook launched the Facebook Platform which provides a framework for developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features [3].

MySpace

MySpace [4] is a social networking Web site offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs and groups, commonly used for sharing photos, music and videos.

Ning

An online platform for creating social websites and social networks aimed at users who want to create networks around specific interests or have limited technical skills [5].

Twitter

Twitter [6] is an example of a micro-blogging service [7]. Twitter can be used in a variety of ways including sharing brief information with users and providing support for one’s peers.

Note that this brief list of popular social networking services omits popular social sharing services such as Flickr and YouTube.

Opportunities And Challenges

The popularity and ease of use of social networking services have excited institutions with their potential in a variety of areas. However effective use of social networking services poses a number of challenges for institutions including long-term sustainability of the services; user concerns over use of social tools in a work or study context; a variety of technical issues and legal issues such as copyright, privacy, accessibility; etc.

Institutions would be advised to consider carefully the implications before promoting significant use of such services.

References

1. Social network service, Wikipedia,
   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service>
2. Sharing, Privacy and Trust In Our Networked World, OCLC,
   <http://www.oclc.org/reports/sharing/>
3. Facebook, Wikipedia,
   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook>
4. MySpace, Wikipedia,
   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace>
5. Ning, Wikipedia,
   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ning>
6. An Introduction To Twitter, UKOLN Cultural heritage briefing document no. 36,
   <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/documents/briefing-36/>
7. An Introduction To Micro-Blogging, UKOLN Cultural heritage briefing document no. 35,
   <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/documents/briefing-35/>

Why The Interest In Facebook?

Facebook has generated much interest over recent months. Much of the interest has arisen since Facebook announced the Facebook Platform [1] which enabled third party developers to build applications which could be used within the Facebook environment.

Since Facebook was developed initially to support students it is not surprising that student usage has proved so popular. This interest has also spread to other sectors within institutions, with researchers and members of staff exploring Facebook possibilities.

What Can Be Done Within Facebook?

Social networks can provide a range of benefits to members of an organisation:

Connections with peers

The main function of Facebook is to provide connections between people with similar interests. Friends can then send messages to each other (either closed messages or open for others to read).

Groups

Facebook users can set up discussion group areas, which can be used by people with interests in the topic of the group. Creation of details of events, which allows users to sign up to, is another popular use of Facebook.

Sharing resources

Many of the popular Facebook applications are used for sharing resources. Some of these replicate (or provide an interface to) popular social sharing services (such as Flickr and YouTube) while other applications provide services such as sharing interests in films, books, etc.

An environment for other applications

he opening of the Facebook Platform has allowed developers to provide access to a range of applications. The ArtShare application [2], for example, provides access to arts resources from within Facebook.

Web presence

Although originally designed for use by individuals since November 2007 Facebook can be used as a Web hosting service for organisational pages.

It should also be noted that organisational pages in Facebook were redesigned in 2009 so that they more closely resemble personal pages [3]. Organisational pages are now also able to share status updates.

What Are The Challenges?

Reservations about use of Facebook in an institutional context include:

Privacy

There are real concerns related to users’ privacy. This will include both short term issues (embarrassing photos being uploaded) and longer term issues (reuse of content in many years time).

Ownership

The Facebook terms and conditions allow Facebook to exploit content for commercial purposes.

Misuse of social space

Users may not wish to share their social space with other colleagues, especially when there may be hierarchical relationships.

Liability

Who will be liable if illegal content or copyrighted materials are uploaded to Facebook? Who is liable if the service is not accessible to users with disabilities?

Sustainability and Interoperability

How sustainable is the service? Can it provide mission-critical services? Can data be exported for reuse in other systems?

Resources

The cost implications in developing services for the Facebook platform.

Institutional Responses To Such Challenges

How should institutions respond to the potential opportunities provided by Facebook and the challenges which its use may entail? The two extreme positions would be to either embrace Facebook, encouraging its use by members of the institution and porting services to the environment or to ban its use, possibly by blocking access by the institutions firewall. A more sensible approach might be to develop policies based on:

Risk assessment and risk management

Analysing potential dangers and making plans for such contingencies. Note that the risk assessment should also include the risks of doing nothing

User education

Developing information literacy / staff development plans to ensure users are aware of the implications of use of Facebook, and the techniques for managing the environment (e.g. privacy settings).

Data management

Developing mechanisms for managing data associated with Facebook. This might include use of Facebook applications which provide alternative interfaces for data import/export, exploring harvesting tools or engaging in negotiations with the Facebook owners.

References

1. Major Facebook Announcement Thursday: Facebook Platform, Mashable, 21 May 2007,
   <http://mashable.com/2007/05/21/facebook-f8/>
2. Artshare, Brooklyn Museum Blog, 8 Nov 2007,
   <http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/bloggers/2007/11/08/artshare-on-facebook/ >
3. 3. New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers, Mashable blog, 3 Mar 2009,
   <http://mashable.com/2009/03/04/new-facebook-pages/>