Privacy and security concerns.
C. Web 3.0 (Semantic & Intelligent Web) – Emerging
Goal: Enable machines to understand, interpret, and connect web data.
Uses AI, linked data, ontologies, and metadata to structure information.
Applications in search engines, chatbots, digital assistants (Siri, Alexa).
Social Network Analysis (SNA)
1. Introduction to Social Network Analysis (SNA)
Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a method for examining relationships and interactions among individuals, groups,
organizations, or systems. It applies graph theory and mathematical models to analyze structures, patterns, and
dynamics in social networks.
Key Concepts in SNA
Nodes (Vertices) → Represent individuals, organizations, or entities.
Edges (Links) → Represent relationships or interactions between nodes.
Graph → A collection of nodes and edges forming a network.
SNA helps in understanding influence, information flow, community structures, and network dynamics in various
fields such as social media, business, healthcare, and cybersecurity.
2. Applications of Social Network Analysis
A. Social Media & Online Communities
Identifying influencers (e.g., top Twitter users with high engagement).
Detecting fake news propagation and bot networks.
Understanding viral trends and content spread.
B. Business & Marketing
Targeted advertising based on network connections.
Customer segmentation for better marketing strategies.
Recommendation systems (Netflix, Amazon product recommendations).
C. Political & Social Movements
Analysis of activist networks (e.g., Arab Spring, #MeToo).
Election influence tracking (e.g., how misinformation spreads).
D. Healthcare & Epidemiology
Tracking disease spread in human populations.
Understanding doctor-patient referral networks.
E. Cybersecurity & Fraud Detection
Detecting fraud rings in financial networks.
Identifying hacker communities and cyber threats.
3. Methods in Social Network Analysis
A. Graph-Based Methods
SNA uses graph theory to represent and analyze networks.
Degree Centrality → Number of direct connections a node has.
Betweenness Centrality → How often a node acts as a bridge between others.
Closeness Centrality → How close a node is to all others in the network.
Eigenvector Centrality → A measure of influence, used in Google's PageRank algorithm.
B. Community Detection Algorithms
Louvain Algorithm → Detects groups with strong internal connections.
Girvan-Newman Algorithm → Finds communities by removing important edges.
C. Network Visualization Techniques
Force-directed graphs (e.g., Gephi visualization).
Heatmaps and adjacency matrices for analyzing connections.
4. Tools for Social Network Analysis
A. Open-Source & Programming-Based Tools
NetworkX (Python) → Powerful graph analysis tool.
Gephi → Interactive network visualization software.
igraph (R/Python) → Statistical network analysis.
B. AI & Machine Learning-Based Tools
Node2Vec & DeepWalk → Machine learning for network embeddings.
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) → AI-based network predictions.
C. Social Media & Cybersecurity Tools
Brandwatch, Hootsuite → Social media sentiment & influence analysis.
Maltego → Cyber threat intelligence & fraud detection.
5. Challenges in Social Network Analysis
Scalability → Large networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) require efficient algorithms.
Data Privacy Issues → Ethical concerns about personal data analysis.
Misinformation & Bias → AI-driven SNA can be manipulated by biased data.
1. Introduction to Social Network Analysis (SNA)
Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a research methodology used to study relationships, structures, and interactions
among individuals, groups, or organizations within a network. It applies graph theory, statistics, and computational
models to understand how information, influence, and behaviors spread in social structures.
Why is SNA Important?
Helps in understanding social relationships and influence patterns.
Identifies key influencers, communities, and network structures.
Widely used in sociology, marketing, cybersecurity, healthcare, and politics.
2. Historical Development of Social Network Analysis
A. Early Foundations (Pre-1900s – 1940s)
The roots of SNA trace back to sociology, anthropology, and psychology.
Sociometry (1930s) → Jacob Moreno developed sociometry to map and measure social relationships in small
groups.
Anthropological Studies → Researchers like Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski studied kinship and tribal networks.
B. Structuralism & Graph Theory (1950s – 1970s)
Mathematical Foundations → Leonhard Euler's Graph Theory (1736) was later applied to social networks.
Small-World Phenomenon (1967) → Stanley Milgram introduced the “six degrees of separation” concept, showing
that people are connected by short chains.
Mark Granovetter (1973) → Introduced the “Strength of Weak Ties” theory, explaining how weak connections are
crucial for information flow.
C. Computational Advancements & Large-Scale Networks (1980s – 1990s)
Network Centrality Measures (Freeman, 1979) → Developed metrics like degree centrality, closeness centrality, and
betweenness centrality.
Sociologists like Duncan Watts & Steven Strogatz (1998) studied small-world networks, leading to breakthroughs in
understanding complex social structures.
D. Digital Era & Social Media Networks (2000s – Present)
Big Data & Machine Learning → AI-driven analysis of large-scale networks.
Rise of Online Social Networks → Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn enabled real-time social network analysis.
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) → Deep learning applied to SNA for recommendation systems, fraud detection,
and influence modeling.
3. Tools & Technologies Used in Social Network Analysis
A. Graph Theory-Based Tools
Gephi → Visualization of network structures.
NetworkX (Python) → Computational network analysis.
igraph (Python/R) → Statistical analysis of networks.
B. AI & Machine Learning-Based Approaches
Node2Vec & DeepWalk → Machine learning for network embeddings.
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) → AI for network predictions and classification.
C. Big Data & Social Media Analytics
Brandwatch, Hootsuite → Social media influence tracking.
Google Knowledge Graph → AI-powered semantic network analysis.
