Social networks allow users to set up profiles or homepages from which their network of “friends” can view posted information. The list of friends that users can make visible to others is crucial to the concept of social networks. Social networks are based on connections between people. User profiles often contain diverse content ranging from demographic data such as gender to personal favorites such as music or books. Users can modify the appearance of their pages and add text and media content to reflect their personalities. Organizations and education institutions use social networks to facilitate knowledge sharing and foster connections between users.


Advantages

  • Provides an excellent forum to gain information literacy (EDUCAUSE, 2006)
  • Provides opportunities to use technology in creative and useful ways (EDUCAUSE, 2006)
  • Helps learners maintain relationships as affiliations changes (EDUCAUSE, 2007)
  • Communities define their own standards of interaction and create an environment that is particularly suited to their needs (EDUCAUSE, 2007)
  • A strong sense of community can be fostered around an academic topic or course (EDUCAUSE, 2008)
  • Can connect people from around the world working in particular areas of study (EDUCAUSE, 2008)


Disadvantages

  • Some learners may not know how to appropriately present themselves online (EDUCAUSE, 2006)
  • Libel and copyright issues may arise when posting content created by others (EDUCAUSE, 2006)
  • May enable superficial interaction with little educational value (EDUCAUSE, 2007)
  • Dynamic nature puts social networks in an “near-constant state of change” (EDUCAUSE, 2008)
  • Managing involvement in multiple social networks could become burdensome (EDUCAUSE, 2008)
  • Public hosting of social networks may not be suitable for sensitive material (EDUCAUSE, 2008)


Best Practices

  • Engage users quickly by providing interesting content, things to do, and easy ways to connect with others (Chapman, 2009)
  • Promote user individuality and personal expression (Chapman, 2009)
  • Provide the ability to group connections (Chapman, 2009)
  • Provide an assortment of applications to users (Chapman, 2009)
  • Make communication between users easier by providing multiple means (Chapman, 2009)
  • Launch employee social networks on a small scale at first. Secure stakeholder support early and often, then evaluate, modify, then grow the network in stages (Drakos, 2009)
  • For private business social networks, educate employees on codes of conduct then trust that users will behave appropriately (Drakos & Roswell, 2009)
  • Create criteria and objectives to measure success of social networks (Weiss & Leigh, 2009)
  • Monitor and manage user behavior (Weiss & Leigh, 2009)
  • Include social media in HR strategies to improve recruitment (Otter, 2009)


Apply this technology

How to Implement

This Common Craft video explains how a social network can connect you with people you don’t know but might have a common interest. Connections are based on common friends or business acquaintenances..

Common Craft Video

Wikipedia lists over 200 existing social network sites found throughout the world. Some may focus on making connections based on friendships, academic peers, music, books, or science. Check out the existing sites using the link below.

Wikipedia List of Social Networking Websites


Real World Examples

LinkedIn is a social networking site to support business and professionals. Once joined, you can request a connection with people you’ve done business with including co-workers, clients, and vendors you’ve hired. LinkedIn gives the option to decline any connection so you can build a network of trusted connections. You can add your resume to your profile and others can ‘recommend’ you. Businesses can post opportunities and look for potential candidates. LinkedIn may be a way for you to find peers to share ideas or join forces to do a study. This video explains the advantages of using LinkedIn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM

Yammer provides private social networking for corporations. Membership is allowed based on matching your email address with the company’s email address. You can create groups visible only to your group or to the whole company. You can upload and share documents, create a personal profile, send private messages, create a shared knowledge base, or even create an external network that reaches out to your external partners. Simply put, it’s another way to connect with co-workers. To see if it’s right for you, watch this video on why these Deloitte employees like Yammer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myEGChLvnPw&feature=related

Facebook is a well-known social networking site intended for family, friends, and business. After you create an account, you can post text, images, links, and videos to your Wall. These postings are visible to your friends and are posted to their home page. Your friends can even make comments on your posts. Your postings can be completely open to the public or controlled by creating groups with different privacy settings. You can also join groups based on your interests like gardening. Facebook recently added Skype to its features so you can video chat. This video explains why so many people use Facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fckmbnng5Ws

Google+ was just released in June 2011. It’s Facebook’s newest competition. It provides a means to connect to your friends, family, and business associates. You can create groups and control who sees what on your page. You can join groups of interest called sparks. Huddle allows you to plan and stay connected with a group of friends for an evening out at the mall or a concert or anywhere else. It also has a built in video chat capability. This video describes potential advantages of Google+ over Facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC_M6PzXS9g&feature=player_embedded

Foursquare is networking based on your GPS location using your cellphone. You can connect with other people or businesses based on your location. Businesses can market their products and even offer discounts for frequently visiting their place of business based on your foursquare account. It’s also a great way to get tips from other customers as well recommendations of what to see and do based on your location. The more often you visit a place you can earn points, acquire badges, and may be titled mayor of that location. This video introduces you to what foursquare can do for you.

http://www.howcast.com/videos/386406-How-To-Unlock-Your-World-With-Foursquare


Practice

These two videos explain how to get started with LinkedIn and how to set up a profile. When you’re ready, simply go to the LinkedIn home page to get started.

How to get started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gelyu0xLCh0&feature=relmfu

How set up a profile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uto1hXw8JE&feature=fvst

LinkedIn Home Page: http://www.linkedin.com

This video link explains how to create a Yammer account. Just enter your email and it automatically connects you to the company associated with your email address. Using the login emailed to you, enter your information as requested. At the end of the short process, you can download the application software to your computer that provides a mobile version view that only shows messages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84eOwKrVry0

Be aware that Facebook released a new interface in 2011. Existing features and capabilities are still there but they may be located or accessed differently. This also means existing ‘how to’ videos may be outdated. Three videos are provided to help you get started. The first is opening an account. This site has many additional helpful videos about Facebook using the old interface. The second link addresses customizing your Facebook profile. The last one is a CBS news broadcast from April 2010 about Facebook privacy settings.

Opening an account: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-make-a-facebook-account/

Customizing your profile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9vd0-yGFZc&feature=relmfu

Privacy Settings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smF1ZV7vikw

Google+ is a very recent addition to your social networking options. As such, joining has been limited but this may ease as more people join and Google addresses any issues. Google+ has a video series on how to use it. The link to the first video of this series is provided; Youtube will likely provide the playlist so you can easily access the remaining videos. The second video is longer but it shows someone actually discussing how to do specific tasks and how to use each option in the interface.

Google videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnJ5Bl4kLI&feature=BFa&list=SPF3DFB800F05F551A&lf=list_related

Other ‘how to’ video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNbk9JbdmE

Foursquare is intended more mobile users. The application is downloaded to your phone and you can find other friends based on your other social networking accounts like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Just go to the Foursquare home page and join. Then start earning points and badges by checking in with your cell phone.

Foursquare Home Page: http://www.foursquare.com