Last updated: 15 March 2010
MAKING SENSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Networking

Social networking sites (SNS) let people create online connections with others. Communities usually begin as small groups of individuals who invite others to become part of their own personal networks, and who then invite more people, so that the total number of members and links in the network grows.

Take a look at this video from Commoncraft which explains Social Networking in Plain English:

The growth of social networking sites has been explosive; there are hundreds of sites around the world and millions of users who have accounts on SNS-enabled sites. In addition to basic personal information, members are encouraged to add additional descriptive information about themselves to build their identity and interact in different ways - through email, messaging, discussion groups and so on.

Although social networking is often considered a trivial activity, networking has a  very important part to play in establishing communities of practice as well as learning communities.

The term "social network" is often used quite indiscriminately to describe any kind of social media tool, especially if it includes some opportunities for users to profile themselves and build relationships with others,

A social network also support discussions among its members in a central forum, and the set up of specific groups for individuals to join.  However, they are generally quite limited in terms of other social activities like bookmarking, collaboration features etc.  

Public social networks

Of the public social networks, the most well known are Facebook, MySpace, Linked In and Twitter.

eMarketer reviewed a report by Anderson Analytics that compared the different generations' use of a number of these  social networks,  Here is one of the comparison charts from their posting.

Here we are going to discuss two public social networks: Facebook and LinkedIn (note we'll be discussing Twitter later).

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Facebook - www.facebook.com

Facebook is one of the largest social networks with over 400 million registered members.  It is now heavily used by businesses who have set up business fan pages.  It is also a favourite site for learning professionals, see Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009.  It is possible to set up open or private groups for specific purposes.

How to use Facebook for Social Learning

• How to use Facebook for Social Learning

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LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com

LinkedIn is another large social network aimed at professional people.  Groups are often set up in LinkedIn for "learning" purposes.  LinkedIn is also a favourite tool of learning professionals, see LinkedIn

How to use LinkedIn

• LinkedIn New User Guide, LinkedIn
• How to get starte with LinkedIn, Jake Swearingen

More Reading

• LinkedIn Reading List

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Private social networks

In addition to the large public social networking sites described above, there are many smaller private social networks that have been set up for small groups.  Many of these networks have been created using the Ning platform - www.ning.com  In fact over 2.5 million networks have been set up on the Ning platform with over 45 million registered users.

 

 

Ning is a favourite site for learning professionals, Ning networks can be:

• completely open, which means anybody can take a look at what is happening in the community and/or join them.
• partially closed, which means unless you are a member you can only view the front page
• completely closed, so they are only accessible by invitation only

The Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies has set up a number of Ning communities, including Workplace Learning 2.0

Examples of social learning sites that use social networking principles

Examples Examples of use of social networks for learning, many of which created using Ning BrainHoney - a social learning environment where anyone can teach a lesson on any subject. Users can rank lessons and collaborate as they learn from each other. Busuu - the language learning community Course Hero - a Social Learning Network built to provide students and key learning partners like professors a platform to share, meet and collaborate while accelerating their comprehension of course-related theories and concepts Myngle - The new way to learn languages Sclipo - Social learning network SpeakingCam - a social network for language learners and tutors, brings you one-on-one tutoring opportunities with native speakers in a social way Sta.rtUp.biz - The small business social network StartupSpace - social network for social entrepreneurs and business owners The Japanese Friend Exchange - the place to find Japanese friends, penpals, language exchange, relationships xlingo - Language exchange community where you can find partners from around the world to practice and improve your language skills. Yappr - where millions of English learners throughout the world are improving their English by meeting and helping each other See also List of social networks for learning professionals

Reading list: Social Networking Reading List
Directory listings: Social Networking tools