CS5038 The Electronic Society Lecture: Social Networking Lecture Outline Social Networking Service Social Networking Sites –Bebo –Friendster –MySpace Social Networking Feature Business Model The future of Social Networking Social Networking 3.0

Social Network Service A social network service –focuses on the building online social networks –for people who share interests and activities –or for those interested in exploring the interests and activities of others The usual internet things can be done in one place –uploading music, videos and photos, –updating blog No tricky programming to learn, no software to load Contact all your friends –and all their friends' friends –all the friends of friends of friends MySpace, Bebo, Friendster and Facebook

Bebo Jan 2005, husband and wife team Michael and Xochi Birch 40 Million users Features : profile, picture, blog,quiz, music Business Model : Advertising, e.g. Google Ads Target population : teenagers (10-20 yrs) Social effects : Ireland

Friendster Designed by Jonathan Abrams in 2002 Considered as the top online social network service until around April 2004 Reasons –Demand too high –servers were very slow –users less interested in logging into their pages every day –Poor human computer interaction (such as tailored to users’ needs)

MySpace Owned by News Corporation Local versions Features : profile for companies Target population : yrs Business model : e-advertising arm of Fox Interactive Media (owned by News Corporation) Concerns : commercialisation Security MySpace overtaken by main competitor Facebook in April 2008 (based on number of visitors)

Features Allow users to create and join virtual groups Share common interests or affiliations Upload videos Hold discussions in forums Artists have become their own agents –musicians are their own record labels –video makers their own broadcasters –everyone has become their own publicist

Business Model No charge for membership MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their site Huge amounts of data from members –can be utilised for targeted advertising and marketing Other ways to make money: –Facebook’s Marketplace: members can buy/sell products, find jobs and etc. –LinkedIn makes money by charging $10 for each message a user wants to send to a potential employer through the network.

History and Future of Social Networking History of Social Networking Social Networks 1.0 –OneList, ICQ, Evite Social Networks 2.0 –Friendster, Orkut, LinkedIn Social Networks 2.5 –Bebo, MySpace, YouTube

Social Networking 3.0 Existing Problems –Each site is independent, does not open onto the world –Users may have identities on different social networks –Each identity was created from scratch Social Networking 3.0 –Freeing up data from independent sites –Allow members to link up to each other at different sites –Use single global identity with different views –Connect to any site using an Open Identity standard (OpenID) and get access to forum, blogs, wiki etc –Also: object centred rather than person centred –Data mining fears…

Finished looking at sectors… recap: What is eSociety About?

Looking back: What is eSociety About? Electronic Technology Human Society

Some definitions… Technology: the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems Technology: a broad concept that deals with a species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment Society: an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization Society: a grouping of individuals, which is characterized by common interests and may have distinctive culture and institutions.

Technological and social developments through the ages…

Development of farming

Technological and social developments through the ages… Settlement

Technological and social developments through the ages… Settlement They interact and feed each other – technological and social development

Technological and social developments through the ages… Development of money

Technological and social developments through the ages… Specialisation

Technological and social developments through the ages… Specialisation Some unexpected, like traders

Technological and social developments through the ages… Development of Writing

Technological and social developments through the ages… Specialist knowledge Mathematics Scribes Education Classes … So technology is the motor for major social changes Now technological change is so fast and profound  interesting times for society We are only at the beginning of this social change

phone screens fast data transmission and processing large databases search Encryption Specific technologies were necessary for specific sectors Sometimes one is driving the other Much has been discovered very recently

Freedom of information Censorship Freedom of speech Blogging Technology provides a new opportunity + society makes use of it (in unforeseen ways) =Society changes Society has a new need  Technology fills the gap

Music Movies TV Web 2.0 Again… Technology provides a new opportunity + society makes use of it (in unforeseen ways) =Society changes Society has a new need  Technology fills the gap

Why study eSociety? Learn about effects on society Learn about new/old needs of society Learn about non technical challenges Looking at the big picture maybe you can see the pattern helps you predict how technology will change how society will change business opportunity (Google, eBay, Amazon, Youtube) social engineering opportunity