Social+Networking

=Social Networking Site (SNS)=


 * What SNSs enable**

An SNS is a digital environment enabling users to:
 * hang out online, waste time and micro-manage social life (Selwyn 2007)
 * share stuff (e.g. images)
 * “thicken existing social relations” (Benkler 2006)
 * create or find “affinity spaces” (Gee 2004)

Popular SNSs include: [|Facebook], [|MySpace] and [|Bebo].


 * Key features**

SNSs generally include:
 * profile pages listing interests and activities
 * opportunities for group creation
 * communications tools (e.g. email, IM, a “wall”)
 * document upload facilities (e.g. videos, pictures)


 * Further reading**

Benkler, Y. (2006). //The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom//. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

boyd, d. & Ellison, N.B. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. //Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication//, 13 pp.210-230

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. //Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication//, 12(4). http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html

Gee, J.P. (2004) //Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling//. London: Routledge

Mazer, J. P., Murphy, R. E., & Simonds, C. J. (2007). I'll see you on "Facebook:" The effects of computer-mediated teacher self-disclosure on student motivation, affective learning, and classroom climate. //Communication Education//, 56 (1) pp.1-17.

Merchant, G. (2006). Identity, Social Networks and Online Communication. //E-Learning//, 3(2) pp.235-244

Selwyn, N. (2007). Screw Blackboard... do it on Facebook! an investigation of students' educational use of Facebook. Paper presented to Poke 1.0 – Facebook social research symposium, November. http://www.scribd.com/doc/513958/Facebook-seminar-paper-Selwyn

Stutzman, F. (2005). Our Lives, our Facebooks. [|www.ibiblio.org/fred/pubs/stutzman_pub6.pdf] third-party applications (e.g. wikis, games)