Social Network Analysis

The fine art of social network analysis, otherwise known as SNA, involves creating a map and measuring the relationships between individual people, groups, organizations and computers that are involved in specific websites.

To perform these mapping tasks, Social Network Analysis uses terms such as nodes or ties. Nodes are the various individuals, often called actors, within the networks. Ties, often referred to as edges, are the relationships between them. Examples of ties include:

• Family members
• Members of an organizations
• Alumni of a school
• Members of a fitness center
• Participants in an experience, such as a language study camp or a sport camp

SNA works on two important principles:

• You can use people to find content, or information
• You can use content or information to find people

For example, suppose you want information about a specific ski resort in Colorado. You are less interested in what the resort website has to say, and more interested in insider information, such as secret powder stashes, best instructors, best restaurants or cheap places to stay. Therefore, you might visit a ski Internet message forum, where you can obtain content from other people. This would be a good example of using people to find content. On the other hand, suppose you had a friend who was on your ski racing team when you were in junior high school. In this case, you might use the content of this same website to find this person. It works both ways.

In the corporate world, many companies use analysis software to perform these analytic tasks. This type of software analyzes the various relationships in the form of easy to read but complex graphs. They are designed to display crucial factors about the network, which may include the prestige and influence of the specific nodes or actors, and the relationships or connections between them. There are a number of ways that businesses can use such analysis to their advantage. These include:

• Corporate collaboration and knowledge management: Companies can find new sources of expertise and brainstorm about new ideas.
• Corporate team building: By analyzing the ties between actors, corporations can build teams of like-minded individuals
• Sales and marketing research: Through SNA, companies can track reactions to new products. They can also determine who uses these products, and use those findings to develop a demographic marketing plan.

There are a number of tools available for analyzing social networks. Here are just a few of them:

• Onasurveys is an online program, so you do not have to get permission to install it. This program combines survey and data analysis tools into one package.
• yEd is a, free, Java -based program that was developed at the University of Tubington
• Netdraw is also a free program, which was created by Steve Borgatti of Analytic Technologies.
• Proximity uses open-source software that was developed by the University of Massachusetts Knowledge Source Discovery Laboratory

The Six Degrees of Separation theory, also known as the Small World Phenomenon states that we are connected to everyone in the world by six links. To prove this theory, social networks such as Facebook have groups known as Six Degrees of Separation on Facebook. Although this theory is somewhat controversial, it is often used as a social networking analysis tool. After all, if every person in the world is connected by six links, the possibilities for the marketing and the spreading of ideas are endless. The trick is to determine the actors or nodes who have the most influence, either because of their number of connections, or their position within the targeted network.

Of course, these types of connections are not always focused on the common good. For example, after 9/11, the NSA was able to use analysis to track down various terrorist cells throughout the world. However, these types of investigations raise some important issues about privacy rights. There's a thin line between how much is considered necessary, and what is considered invasive. Fortunately, some savvy web developers have discovered a unique way to use SNA as a method of creating world peace. The folks at Playing for Change searched the world to discover influential musicians. Through a collaborative effort, they developed a series of recordings that featured musicians from throughout the globe playing different parts of the same songs. Thus, by analyzing musicians of influence, they were able to spread a message about world peace.

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