understanding sns

Last semester, I investigated the trajectory of the "social networking problem" and looked at the different platforms addressing those problems. Now, I want to research the affordances of Social Networking Sites (SNS). Since there are so many SNSs out there, what are they doing? What are the commonalities and distinctions? How do their affordances align with the properties of networked publics (persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability)? What kind of social networking statistics—specific to my demographic— could shape the way I approach my thesis' cognitive artifact?

So far, I narrowed it down to the most popular:
01. Facebook
02. MySpace
03. Twitter
04. LinkedIn
05. Ning
06. Tagged
07. Classmates.com
08. Hi5
09. MyYearbook
10. Meetup
11. Bebo
12. MyLife
13. Friendster
14. MyHeritage
15. Multiply
16. Orkut

According to BizMba's Rank of Alexa Global Traffic, Jan 2011

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Notable spectrum
friendship-driven vs interests-driven communities
connecting people vs content creation

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Then, I skimmed through the popular websites and listed the affordances of each site—designating each affordance a combination of properties:

(p)ersistence: "the continued, prolonged existence of something,"
(s)earchability: "ability to explore, examine,"
(r)eplicability: "ability to repeat, duplicate, reproduce," and
(sc)alablity: "ability to adapt to increased demands."



This helped me understand the nature of the property terms—persistence, searchability, replicability, and scalability—in regards to the social networking sphere. The affordances were usually a combination of multiple properties: Although the affordances exhibited various properties, there was usually one property that applied most—reinforcing the categorization in my matrix of researchable points. With SNSs being a virtual environment, the affordances are automatically persistant and usually searchable and replicable: Scalability seemed to be the only property that did not explicitly apply to the majority of affordances, but even that is an easily argued judgement.

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core characteristics of social networking sites:

01. user-based
02. interactive
03. community-driven
04. relationships
05. emotion over content

"The evolution of the Internet is now forming itself around the characteristics of social networks."

According to a 2007 research study conducted by researchers from Rice University, the University of Maryland, and Max Planck Institute for Software System

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Now, I need to read, read, read...

Currently reading:
+ "Alone Together" Sherry Turkle
+ "Living and Learning with New Media" Mizuko Ito, et al.
+ "A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Networking Sites" Zizi Papacharissi
+ "Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods" Dr. John W. Creswell
+ "Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media" Carrie James
+ "Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out" danah boyd
+ "Cyberpsychology" Kent Norman
+ "World Without Secrets" Richard Hunter

Projected reading list:
+ "Does It Really Matter That People Zip" Yoonjae Mam, et al.
+ "The Influence of Social Networking Web" Daniel Bohnert
+ "Does Imposing a Goal Always Improve Exercise Intentions in Avatar-Based Exergames?" Seung-A Annie Jin
+ "Understanding Diversity in Millennial Students" Ellen M. Broido
+ "More Information than You Ever Wanted, Does Facebook Bring Out the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealously?" Amy Muise
+ "The Virtual Geographies of social networks" Ziz Papacharissi
+ "Psychological Predictors of Young Adults' Use of Social Networking Sites" Kathryn Wilson
+ "Social Networks as Health Feedback Displays" Margaret E. Morris
+ "Structure and Evolution of Online Social Networks" Ravi Kumar, et al.