A social network is a social structure Social structure is a term used in sociology and anthropology to refer to relationships or bonds between groups of individuals . Whereas 'structure' refers to "the macro", "agency" refers to "the micro". (See also: Structure and agency) made of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. In anthropology the kinship system includes people related both by descent and marriage, while usage in biology includes descent and mating. Human kinship relations through marriage are commonly called ", financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.
Social network analysis views social relationships A Social relation is a concept in social science referring most generally to a relationship between two or more people, but that relationship can exist without those people actively and deliberately relating, communicating or associating with each other in terms of network theory Network theory is an area of applied mathematics and network science and part of graph theory. It has application in many disciplines including particle physics, computer science, biology, economics, operations research, and sociology. Network theory concerns itself with the study of graphs as a representation of either symmetric relations or, about nodes and ties. Nodes A node is an abstract basic unit used to build linked data structures such as trees, linked lists, and computer-based representations of graphs. Each node contains some data and possibly links to other nodes. Links between nodes are often implemented by pointers or references are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. The resulting graph In mathematics, a graph is an abstract representation of a set of objects where some pairs of the objects are connected by links. The interconnected objects are represented by mathematical abstractions called vertices, and the links that connect some pairs of vertices are called edges. Typically, a graph is depicted in diagrammatic form as a set-based structures are often very complex In the context of network theory, a complex network is a network with non-trivial topological features—features that do not occur in simple networks such as lattices or random graphs. The study of complex networks is a young and active area of scientific research inspired largely by the empirical study of real-world networks such as computer. There can be many kinds of ties between the nodes. Research in a number of academic fields has shown that social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.
In its simplest form, a social network is a map of all of the relevant nodes between all the nodes being studied. The network can also be used to measure social capital Social capital is a social science concept used in business, economics, organizational behaviour, political science, public health and sociology that refers to connections within and between social networks. Though there are a variety of related definitions, which have been described as "something of a cure-all" for the problems of -- the value that an individual gets from the social network. These concepts are often displayed in a social network diagram, where nodes are the points and ties are the lines.
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Internet Search Engine Database
Two-thirds of Brazil's internet users were found to have created an online social network profile in 2008, according to Symantec Corp. ...
