TECH2002 Lab Week 9: Social Networks

What is the purpose of a social network?

What kind of experience is created by being socially networked through Web 2.0?

You could investigate what social networks are by joining them or creating your own.

You can use social networks as part of your participation project to connect to others and share experiences and find out about other people who might share the same interests as yourself.

You are probably a member of a social network such as Facebook, MySpace or Bebo because they are among the most widely used Web 2.0 sites as part of social media. However, if there is a shared personal interest there is a possibility that that there will be a dedicated social network for it, and if there is no existing social network that satisfies, then there are services that allow you to create your own social network.

Examples of special interest websites

Music

Last.fm ‘The Social Music Revolution'

Blip.fm ‘Create your own music station’

MOG.com ‘WHERE BAD MUSIC COMES TO DIE’

TheSixtyOne.com ‘ a community for people who love new music’

Football

Footbo.com ‘a social network for football lovers worldwide’

Media

Imeem.com ‘a social network that enables users to discover, interact and express themselves with media’

Gaming

Come2Play.com ‘social gaming networks’

Food

Foodari.com ‘recipe search, share and store’

Reading

LibraryThing.com

Shelfari.com ‘social network for people who love books’

Web services that allow you to create your own social network

Ning.com ‘create your own social network for anything’

SocialGo.com ‘social network maker’

WackWall.com ‘how many clicks does it take to build a cool social network?’

Further research links

http://c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/Tools/social.html
http://www.go2web20.net/Gotoweb20 tag search: ‘social’ or ‘network’