Complexity in Social Networks

In 2010, many thought making something “social” meant adding comments or likes, or if they were building a social graph meant adding a “follow” button. These were just the building blocks of social networks, they were the result – not the cause of what made social networks fun to be on. The reality was that each decision made in designing a social ... See more

Social networks aren’t just the interface, or the algorithm, they’re also about the people in them. When I wrote “The Network’s the Thing” I meant it; the graph is inextricable from the identity of a social media service. Change the inputs of such a system and you change the system itself.

On the deflation side, social networks can get less cool as more people join. The canonical example here is what happened to Facebook when parents started joining: all the young people left for Instagram and Snapchat. Social networks need to be analyzed based on more than their network effects... There are three axes for analyses: Social Capital, U... See more