Over at Mashable they’re discussing whether to call this diagram a social network or a social graph. Dave Winer whined about it.
I don’t really care what you call it, but it’s a useful diagram. It shows how social networks work. There is no pyramid. There are just dots, representing people, and those dots develop relationships. You’ll be a lot more effective online if you build more relationships. That is, build your network.
Social Network Example
Social networks are built on common interests. Let’s take Mr. Dot. He’s a chemist who likes to play golf and writes poetry on weekends. His social network likely is made up of other chemists, but also other golfers, and perhaps some poets. Here’s what it might look like.
- Mr. Dot – chemist, golfer, poet
- Mrs. Tod – chemist, gardener, political activist
- Jane Doe – golfer, college student, pianist, rich girl
- John Silverstein – poet, grad student studying microbiology
- Rich Dude – entrepreneur, philanthropist, boating enthusiast
- Harry Cranium – biochemical engineer, golfer, boating enthusiast, Trombone player
Each one of these people are, of course, much more than a sum of interests. And they all have their own individual stories. But where there stories cross, that’s the network. Mr. Dot’s network will undoubtedly look quite different than Harry Cranium’s or Rich Dude’s. But they will each have a network and their own network is available to each of the others in the network.
Moral of the story: Build your network. When you can, tap into someone else’s network. That’s how you succeed online.
