Social network aggregation
Encyclopedia
Social network aggregation is the process of collecting content from multiple social network service
s, such as MySpace
or Facebook
. The task is often performed by a social network aggregator, which pulls together information into a single location, or helps a user consolidate multiple social networking profiles into one profile. Various aggregation services provide tools or widgets to allow users to consolidate messages, track friends, combine bookmarks, search across multiple social networking sites, read RSS feeds for multiple social networks, see when their name is mentioned on various sites, access their profiles from a single interface, provide "lifestreams", etc.
Social network aggregation services attempt to organize or simplify a user's social networking experience, although the idea has been satirized by the concept of a "social network aggregator aggregator."
, Youtube
, Stumbleupon
, Digg
, Delicious, and other major platforms.
One can also integrate their blog posts and comments in the aggregation platform. Everything is shown in real time to other members who subscribe to a particular community, which eliminates the need to jump from one social media
network to another, trying to keep an eye on one's interests.
The aggregation is done by an API application. For the API to be able to access a user's actions from another platform, the user will have to give permission to the social aggregation platform, by specifying user id and password of the social media to be syndicated. This concept is similar to open id. Examples of such clients are Doozly, Sobees, Sociagg, and Alternion.
Social network aggregation systems can rely on the initiation of publishers or readers. In the publisher-initiated aggregation systems such as FriendFeed
, the publishers combine their own identities, which make their readers see all aggregated content once subscribing to; in the reader-initiated systems such as Windows phone 7 people hub , and Linked Internet UI , the readers combine the identities of others, which has no impact to the publishers or other readers. Consequently, such systems allow publishers to keep separate identities for different readers.
reported that social network service
s are only beginning the move away from "walled gardens" to more open architectures. Some sites are working together on a "data portability workgroup", while others are focusing on a single sign-on system called OpenID
to allow users to log on across multiple sites. Historically the trend from private services to more open ones can be seen across many Internet services from email and instant messaging to the move that early online service provider
s made to become websites. The OpenSocial
initiative aims to bridge the member overlap between various online social network services.
reported on the member overlap between various online social network services:
A 2009 study of 11,000 users reported that the majority of MySpace
, LinkedIn
, and Twitter
users also have Facebook
accounts.
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
s, such as MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
or Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. The task is often performed by a social network aggregator, which pulls together information into a single location, or helps a user consolidate multiple social networking profiles into one profile. Various aggregation services provide tools or widgets to allow users to consolidate messages, track friends, combine bookmarks, search across multiple social networking sites, read RSS feeds for multiple social networks, see when their name is mentioned on various sites, access their profiles from a single interface, provide "lifestreams", etc.
Social network aggregation services attempt to organize or simplify a user's social networking experience, although the idea has been satirized by the concept of a "social network aggregator aggregator."
Social network aggregators
Social network aggregation platforms allow members to share their other social network activities like TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, Stumbleupon
StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles.Toolbar versions exist for...
, Digg
Digg
Digg is a social news website. Prior to Digg v4, its cornerstone function consisted of letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying, respectively. Digg's popularity prompted the creation of copycat social networking sites with story submission and voting systems...
, Delicious, and other major platforms.
One can also integrate their blog posts and comments in the aggregation platform. Everything is shown in real time to other members who subscribe to a particular community, which eliminates the need to jump from one social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
network to another, trying to keep an eye on one's interests.
The aggregation is done by an API application. For the API to be able to access a user's actions from another platform, the user will have to give permission to the social aggregation platform, by specifying user id and password of the social media to be syndicated. This concept is similar to open id. Examples of such clients are Doozly, Sobees, Sociagg, and Alternion.
Social network aggregation systems can rely on the initiation of publishers or readers. In the publisher-initiated aggregation systems such as FriendFeed
FriendFeed
FriendFeed is a real-time feed aggregator that consolidates the updates from social media and social networking websites, social bookmarking websites, blogs and micro-blogging updates, as well as any other type of RSS/ Atom feed...
, the publishers combine their own identities, which make their readers see all aggregated content once subscribing to; in the reader-initiated systems such as Windows phone 7 people hub , and Linked Internet UI , the readers combine the identities of others, which has no impact to the publishers or other readers. Consequently, such systems allow publishers to keep separate identities for different readers.
Distributed social networking
In March 2008, The EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
reported that social network service
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
s are only beginning the move away from "walled gardens" to more open architectures. Some sites are working together on a "data portability workgroup", while others are focusing on a single sign-on system called OpenID
OpenID
OpenID is an open standard that describes how users can be authenticated in a decentralized manner, eliminating the need for services to provide their own ad hoc systems and allowing users to consolidate their digital identities...
to allow users to log on across multiple sites. Historically the trend from private services to more open ones can be seen across many Internet services from email and instant messaging to the move that early online service provider
Online service provider
An online service provider can for example be an internet service provider, email provider, news provider , entertainment provider , search, e-shopping site , e-finance or e-banking site, e-health site, e-government site, Wikipedia, Usenet...
s made to become websites. The OpenSocial
OpenSocial
OpenSocial is a set of common application programming interfaces for web-based social network applications, developed by Google along with MySpace and a number of other social networks.It was released November 1, 2007....
initiative aims to bridge the member overlap between various online social network services.
Overlap between multiple social network services
Many users have accounts on several different social networking sites. In November 2007, Alex Patriquin of Compete.comCompete.com
Compete.com is a web traffic analysis service of Compete, Inc. which operates in the United States and publishes the approximate number of global visitors to the top 1,000,000 web sites in the world...
reported on the member overlap between various online social network services:
| Site | Bebo Bebo Bebo is a social networking website launched in July 2005. It is currently owned and operated by Criterion Capital Partners after taking over from AOL in June 2010.... | Facebook Facebook Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as... | Friendster Friendster Friendster is a social gaming site that is based in Malaysia, KL. The company now operates mainly from the three Asian countries namely in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.... | Hi5 Hi5 (website) hi5 is a social networking website based in San Francisco, California. The company was founded in 2003 by Ramu Yalamanchi. By 2008, comScore reported that hi5 had become the third most popular social networking site in terms of monthly unique visitors.... | LinkedIn LinkedIn LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,... | MySpace MySpace Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors.... | Ning | Orkut Orkut Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The service is designed to help users meet new and old friends and maintain existing relationships... | Plaxo Plaxo Plaxo is an online address book and social networking service originally founded by Sean Parker, Minh Nguyen and two Stanford engineering students, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebo | 100 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 65 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 100 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 64 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| Friendster | 5 | 23 | 100 | 4 | 6 | 49 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Hi5 | 7 | 24 | 4 | 100 | 1 | 69 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | 42 | 8 | 2 | 100 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 3 | |
| MySpace | 3 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ning | 6 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 44 | 100 | 2 | 2 |
| Orkut | 3 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 29 | 2 | 100 | 1 |
| Plaxo | 5 | 48 | 8 | 2 | 54 | 34 | 14 | 4 | 100 |
A 2009 study of 11,000 users reported that the majority of MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...
, and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
users also have Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
accounts.
See also
- Social network serviceSocial network serviceA social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
- Social networkSocial networkA social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
- Social mediaSocial mediaThe term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
- List of social networking websites
- Web 2.0Web 2.0The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...