readings |
Garton, L., Haythornthwaite, C., and Wellman, B. Studying online social networks Freeman, L. Visualizing Social Networks Newman, M.E.J. 2001 Ego-centered networks and the ripple effect |
assignment: |
1. Read the papers listed above. 2. Draw the set of people you have communicated with during the last month. If there are connections between these people, draw those also. (The goal of this project is to think about networks and their representation, not to challenge your privacy: please feel free to use pseudonyms and/or omit any person you are not comfortable including). What information about the people (nodes) do you want to include in your image to make it most legible? You might want to include age, gender, a picture, profession, an indication of how much you know about them (e.g. you know a lot about a sibling, very little about the coffee vendor you see each morning). What information about the relationships (links)? For example, you may want to indicate the type of relationship (officemate, relative), the typical medium (in person, email), the strength of the relationship, its duration, frequency of contact, etc. Think about how the information you chose to include (or not) shapes the way the image is drawn and how it can be used. 3. (Optional) Take part in the Small World's Research Project. What does this experiement say about the shape of global networks vs. perception of local networks? This assignment is due Sunday Please submit your work online. If you have any problems with doing so, send email to Andrew Fiore atf@media.mit.edu |