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Social networking. Nigel Gibson AL Conference 07/06/08. What are we going to do?. I X. We’ll look at what we might mean by “social networks” We’ll look at the topography of online social networks I’ll offer a fast pass over some current technologies and SociaLearn
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Social networking Nigel Gibson AL Conference 07/06/08
What are we going to do? I X • We’ll look at what we might mean by “social networks” • We’ll look at the topography of online social networks • I’ll offer a fast pass over some current technologies and SociaLearn • We’ll have a chat about all this stuff
Before we start • Do you read Wikipedia? • Do you use Amazon? • Do you use IMDB? • Do you edit Wikipedia? • Do you offer reviews on Amazon? • Do you offer reviews on IMDB?
In the beginning • As a basic unit a family is a social network • And it’s part of a wider network
So…… • The relationships might be through work, children’s school or activities, wider family, neighbours • We might not know all the people a partner or child or parent knows • This means we can access different networks through our closest network
A network • My friends Me • …………. all have friends
Me You get the idea
People • So you have friends and they have friends • You might know some and you might not know others but they are FOAF • Friends of a friend
Primordial soup • In the beginning there was ARPA net (1969) • And CYCLADES (Early 70s) • And ALOHANet (1970)(My favourite) • And other local and national networks • And, finally, The Internet linked them all together into a network of networks (from 1974) • And what drove all these developments was people wanting to talk to each other
Online • One of the first viable online communities was The WELL (the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) established in 1985 and still going strong • Started in the Bay area of San Franscisco on a bulletin board • They “engineered” the start by charging membership but inviting “interesting” people to join for free • Then, in 1991, the web arrived
The kids are alright • Fast forward because the birth and development of the WWW is a whole different story • As of 31 March 2008, 1.407 billion people use the Internet according to Internet World Stats • Friends Reunited - launched 2000, sold in 2005 for £120M with 15M users • MySpace started in 2002 - 110 million members • 15 million people use Geni.com to build their family tree • Other SNS include Bebo, Hi5 and FaceParty
Blogs • As soon as people could write to the Internet some started keeping online journals • This became more widespread as the web made setting up and keeping a blog a simple task – a blog is a “web log” • Some are influential in specific areas – frequently American politics
FaceBook • Originally started so that US college graduates could keep in touch • 70 million users
So people are talking • And sharing things • Flickr to share photos • YouTube to share videos • Slideshare to share presentations • Share bookmarks on Del.icio.us • We can aggregate what we are doing on FriendFeed • And in doing so we create networks
Instant • Twitter is a microblogging site • Messages (tweets) limited to 140 characters • Can be sent from mobile devices • Delivered in real time • Can be distributed to other applications • Find and follow friends and friends of friends
So what is it all for? • We “manage” who we talk and listen to • Some of my FOAFs are very smart indeed • I can access a network of experts • Relationships of trust • “Hive mentality”, synergy, power of collaboration • About psychogeography
So what is it all for? http://nogbad.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/how-social-networks-work/
Why do people contribute? • Gift economy – not a new idea, dates back to the Stone Age • Reciprocal altruism • By contributing we create capital – we increase the chances of being helped if they have a question • We add value to the global commons
SociaLearn assumption • There is a major shift in society and education driven by the possibilities new technologies create for creating and sharing content and for social networking • NB: This is a dialogue about futures – not a prediction • SociaLearn suggests that instead of a VLE we’ll create personal learning environments http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/socialearn/index.php
Image by M Weller and taken from presentation, Social:Learn on SociaLearn site
To quote a good book Image from: http://is.gd/rH1
Summary • we can use the web as passive consumers or • we can become activists and • contribute but • whatever we do • we can still turn it all off
If you want to try • Take a look round • Find somewhere you feel comfortable • Blogger • Wikipedia • Twitter • Watch what others are doing • Dip your toe in the water