When it comes to the topic what is the
social network. I think we can discuss the problem by dividing ‘social network’
into ‘social’ and ‘network’. The term network means a set of relationships. For
example, the electrical network is an interconnection of electrical elements, where the interconnection is
the relationship of electrical elements. In my opinion, the difference
between a social network and an electrical network is the interaction of individuals
in a social network. So here we come to the definition of the term ‘social’.
From my aspect, the term social refers to the interaction of actors. The
interaction of actors is by sharing, communication and collaboration through social
media. So all in all, the term ‘social network’ means that actors build a set
of relationships by interacting each others.
Before
lectures
by Prof. Chan, I may mainly consider social network as the communication
among friends. Such as we chat by QQ, or we share what we like by RENREN, which
is just for entertainment. Now I know that social network can be used for entertainment,
but it is much more than entertainment. Let me take co-authoring as an example.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that
everyone can edit, is an essential source of knowledge on the Internet now. In Wikipedia, people also share what they
have known like what we do in RENREN, but Wikipedia
makes the sharing become knowledge in system. In another word, people
collaborate to write an encyclopedia by sharing what they have known. Thanks to
the collaboration, the information in Baidu Zhidao(something that like the Wikipedia ) is always the latest and exhaustive.
What I want to know about social network
is that since social network is mainly about sharing, communication and collaboration,
how to ensure our security and privacy in social network. What’s more, I’d like
to learn something more about psychology in social network.
