Making the Connection

It's kind of hard for me to understand and imagine how the world functioned without social networking sites. Taking everything into consideration, the fact that nearly everyone has Facebook, Twitter is becoming more popular, and that the number of social media sites are increasing everyday, makes me really question how people would respond if a time-shift reversal was to occur and we headed back to a time when communication occurred via the postal network as opposed to online social networks. It's hard to imagine how people would respond in that instance, although I'm picturing a very "headless chook"like scenario.

So, I've already mentioned briefly that communication in the "good ol' days" occurred through things like the postal network, and the postal network can work as a good example of what exactly a network is. A network is a collection of nodes and links that allow information and resources to be shared.

So, with a postal network, the post office (which is the node) sends and receives letters, parcels and postcards (which are the information and resources) and sends them off to other nodes (houses, other post offices) via postal vans travelling along roads (the links or edges between each node). A computer network, or any other network for that matter, functions in much or exactly the same way. The basic notion of networking comes into play when there are objects linked together.

A social network, such as Flickr or Facebook, works as the platform on the web that connects the nodes. These social networks are all centred around a specific object. On Flickr it's the photos, on Facebook it's a number of things including but not limited to photos, videos and the focus object, friends. It's all about object-centred sociality. And that I think, is where the headless chooks would have the biggest problems.

We've become so focused on material goods. Objects that we can actually hold in our hands, or somehow posses in a virtual sense, having a certain number of objects, being the person with the most this or that, the most expensive this or that, the most up-to-date this or that, is really the focus of our every day lives. Successful social software focuses on similar objects of sociality, objects that mediate the social ties between people. We must be connected to others. It's almost like if you aren't connected to somebody else then you can official consider yourself an outcast, behind the times. We are being presented with an expanded conception of sociality. An expanded conception of how we socialise with others and what platforms enable us to do this. How our virtual devices suddenly make us seem to be more connected to the real and material world.

There are two main theories associated with understanding networks. The first, "Graph Theory", thought up around the time of 1736, concerns itself with the mathematics behind graphs and networks. It focuses on the rules and protocols behind networks as opposed to the semantics or logics, understanding that nodes and their links do not have semantics (that is, a node does not have a social identity). Comparatively, the second theory, which is just straight out called "Network Theory", associates itself with real-world phenomena. That is, things like the social networks, economic network, energy networks, where something is actually happening. Where the networks are actually achieving something that is physical be it making new relations, making money or making people more powerful. It also classifies networks as dynamic and active. That networks are constantly changing and constantly being up dated is true. I mean, think about your Facebook friends (or if you must, your real friends). Are you friends now with the same people that you were 5 years ago? Maybe, maybe not. The point is you and your friends have changed. And in that sense, the friend network has been changed. Your personal behaviour has been affected, as has the behaviour of the entire network, your entire group of friends.

I think that networks, both computer and real world, have generated such an accumulation of interest in recent years that it will be a long time before the final network system is created. In fact, there might never be a definite end to the creation of networks. And now with the proposed introduction of Web 3.0, which is focused on individual tagging and computer-to-computer interaction, well, a whole series of networks might open up. And while there are a lot of other terms associated with networking that I have failed to mention, the basic gist is this: networks are about connection and linking.

Without them (without networks that is) your 'friends' might have been very different people. You might even have been a very different person. Something to think about. And if you did want to look at social networks in more detail this site has some very interesting points to make. Or if you wanted to look more closely at computer networks, how about this?


Image 1 available: http://socialnetworkingeducation.wikia.com/wiki/Social_Networking_in_Education_Wiki
Image 2 available: http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~gsooj/c.htm