1、 Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship danah m. boyd, Nicole B. Ellison Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 13, Issue 1, pages 210230, October 2007 Social Network Sites: Definition We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1)
2、construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from si
3、te to site. While we use the term social network site to describe this phenomenon, the term social networking sites also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. We chose not to employ the term networking for two reasons: emphasis and scope. Networking emphasize
4、s relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow
5、 individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between latent ties (Haythorn
6、thwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily networking or looking to meet new people； instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social
7、network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them social network sites. While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of Friends1 who are also users of the system. Profiles are uniqu
8、e pages where one can type oneself into being (Sundn, 2003, p. 3). After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and
9、 an about me section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profiles look and feel. Others, such as Facebook, allow users to add modules (Applications) that enhance their profile. Th
10、e visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles on Friendster and T are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer may see based on wh
11、ether she or he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or Friends only. Facebook takes a different approachby default, users who are part of the same network can view each others profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny p
12、ermission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other. After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with whom they have a relationship. The lab
13、el for these relationships differs depending on the sitepopular terms include Friends,Contacts, and Fans. Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not. These one-directional ties are sometimes labeled as Fans or Followers, but many sites call these Friends as well. T
14、he term Friends can be misleading, because the connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people connect are varied (boyd, 2006a). The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains links to each Friends
15、profile, enabling viewers to traverse the network graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions. For instance, some MySpace users have hacked their profiles to hide the Friends
16、display, and LinkedIn allows users to opt out of displaying their network. Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends profiles. This feature typically involves leaving comments, although sites employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a
17、 private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available. Not all social network sites began as such. QQ started as a Chinese instant messaging service, LunarStorm as a community site, Cyworld as
18、 a Korean discussion forum tool, and Skyrock (formerly Skyblog) was a French blogging service before adding SNS features. C, a directory of school affiliates launched in 1995, began supporting articulated lists of Friends after SNSs became popular. AsianAvenue, MiGente, and BlackPlanet were early po
19、pular ethnic community sites with limited Friends functionality before re-launching in 20052006 with SNS features and structure. While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to segregate themse
20、lves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society (Hargittai, this issue), even if that was not the intention of the designers. 社交网站：定义、历史以及内涵 作者： danah m. boyd, Nicole B. Ellison 计算机通讯 ,第 13 卷 ,第一期 ,第 230 - 210 页 ,2007 年 10 月 社交网站：定义 我们将社交网络定义为基于网络的服务，允许个人
21、（ 1）在一个有界系统内建立一个公开或半公开的个人档案，（ 2）阐明与他们共享一个连接的其他用户的列表，和（ 3）查看和导线连接和其他系统内的用户清单。这些联系的性质和命名可能因为网站不同而存在差异。 当我们使用“ social network site” 一词来形容这种现象时， “s ocial networking sites” 也出现在公共话语中，这两个词往往交替使用。我们选择不选择“网络化”一词的原因有二：着重和范围。“ Netwoeking” 强调关系的建立，常常发生在陌生人之间。虽然网络是有可能在这些网站上，它是不是其中最重要的做法，也不是它区别于其他形式的电脑中介传播（ CMC）
22、。 使社会网络站点独特的并不在于是允许个人与陌生人接触，而在于他们使用户的表达可视。这可能会导致人与人之间的联系无法实现，但这往往不是目标，这些联系经常是一些分享一些脱机联系的“关系链”（ Haythornthwaite 2005年）。许多大型 SNS网站，用户并不一定是“网络化”的或正在寻求新朋友，相反，他们主要沟通的人群是那些早已在社交圈的人们中的一部分。为了强将这些网站视为一个重要的组织功能的社交网络，我们将他们成为“社交网络”。 虽然 SNS网站已经实现了多种技术特点，他们的主干由可见资料构成，他们主要展示系统中是朋友的用户的资料。资料是独特的网页，其中一个可以“点击生成”（ Sund
23、n， 2003年，第 3页）。加入一个 SNS后，个体会被要求填写表格中的一系列问题。生成的资料有这些问题与答案构成，通常包括如年龄 ，现居地，兴趣，和“关于我”的选项。大多数网站还鼓励用户上传个人照片。有些网站鼓励用户改善个人资料，允许加入多媒体内容或修改他们的个人资料的外观和感觉，如 Facebook就允许用户添加模块（“应用程序”）以改善他们的个人资料。 生成的资料因网站而不用，也因为用户的自由选择填写而不同。默认情况下，型材 Friendster和 T是通过搜索引擎抓取，无论观众是否有帐户，使资料被任何人可见。此外， LinkedIn设置中，通过用户是否为付费帐户，去决定该用户可以看到
24、资料的哪些部分。像 MySpace网站， 允许用户选择是否希望他们的个人资料是被公众可见还是“朋友”可见。 Facebook采用了不同的方法 用户在默认情况下是相同的“网络”的一部分，可以查看对方的情况，除非用户拒绝自己资料在网络中可见。可见性与可进入性德结构变化是 SNS网站将自己与其他网站做区分的的主要方式之一。 加入一个社会网络站点后，用户会被提示在该识别系统中有哪些有联系的用户。这些关系标签的因网站的定位而不同，如“朋友”，“联系人”和“粉丝。” 大多数 SNS网站需要用户的双向确认，但有些则没有。这些单向的关系有时会标示为“粉丝”或“追随者” ，但许多网站依旧称这些用户为“好友”。“好友”一词容易被误导，因为连接并不一定意味着日常的白话意义上的友谊，因为和人建立联系的原因是多种多样的（博伊德， 2006A）
