Social Networks and Social Network Services

The most interesting e-commerce application in recent years has been the emergence of social and enterprise social networks. Originating from online communities, these networks are growing rapidly and providing many new EC initiatives, revenue models, and business models

A social network is a social entity composed of nodes (which are generally individuals, groups, or organizations) that are connected by links such as hobbies, friendship or profession. The structures are often very complex.

In its simplest form, a social network can be described by an image of the nodes and links. The network can also be used to describe Facebook’s social graph

Reference :

Efraim Turban, David King, Jae Kyu Lee, Ting-Peng Liang, Deborrah C. Turban (2015), Electronic Commerce A Managerial and Social Networks Perspective