Social Networking Websites, A Goldmine for Data: Understaning the Science Behind SNA

One of the trends that has come out of the social networking website boom is the evolution of the collection of data and the birth of “social networking analytics” (SNA), which the Brisbane Times recently discussed in this article.

The use of SNA is still in its infancy, by 2012 though it is thought that the collection of the data available will be fully realized and in use. Companies will be able to see who exactly you are “connected” to and analyzing any conflict of interest this may cause (ie: where do friends and family members work). Beyond that they will be able to gather information that a simple resume does not always hold from something as simple as age, race and appearance, to what you have said about your job, what co workers may have said about you, how often you vacation, holidays you take, and any other piece of data that is relevant.

From a marketing standpoint companies will be able to analyze trends in a much more accurate fashion than they do now, using the entire array of web 2.0 sites, mining as much data as possible from them. This data mining will be able to be used to build a complete profile of who you are and what you have done. Which from a marketing side is exciting, but from a privacy standpoint it is pretty upsetting. (Note to self: Remove pictures of me stripping on a pool table in a club…. wait that will show up in data searches too, just kidding about the stripping thing.)

Behind all of this is a long history in the world of social science.

While the industry of Social Networking Analytics is still in it’s infancy, the concept of Social Networking Analysis has been deployed by social scientists for a long period of time. Social Networking Analysis is basically the Kevin Bacon game in some rudimentary way (although the direct or indirect connections are usually three steps away), you examine the degrees of how people are connected and how nodes are interconnected with different people.

Using this method, people have been able to track the spread of hospital acquired infections, analyze book selling patterns, and expose business ties in criminal investigations. There is a very solid science and technique behind this technology that is taking a step forward and integrating the various facets of the web.

Being able to understand this science is important for someone as a viral marketer because this encapsulates what you are trying to do. In creating word of mouth about yourself or your product you first try to influence people within your node, using the chart above lets say that Diane is your company, Diane places a banner on her page and asks others to do so within her friends network on whatever social networking site. From there people influence others that are within their nodes that might not be in Diane’s.

The breakdown and growth of this is truly fascinating, you can examine how your network changes and grows. Right now we are only at the tip of the iceberg with the implementation of this technology in regards to online social networks, the growth of the science behind this over the next few years should bring up some interesting debates on an ethical level.

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