

Thank you, Dave Winer (social network not graph) - bootload
http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/09/thank_you_dave.php

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natrius
There's a good reason for having both terms. "Social network" can mean either
a site that lets people socialize with each other or one's actual
relationships with other people. It's usually used to mean the former. "Social
graph" is used to mean only the latter.

"Social networks" are the application. The "social graph" is the data.

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alex_c
That's exactly what I was thinking. Seems like an obvious - if somewhat subtle
- difference.

I don't really see what the fuss is all about.

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karzeem
Like the commenters at Rough Type say, "graph" is just the word for how
programmers conceptualize a network (as in graph theory). Winer is right that
there's no reason to expose consumers to that kind of jargon, though. The
reason that it's popping up is that Facebook has been using it since they
launched their platform in May, I suspect with the hope that the term will
remain closely associated with them so that when people think social networks
(or social graphs, as it happens), they think Facebook.

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pietro
Lots of people sounding like monkeys in the comment section to the post...

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mattmaroon
That term is borderline retarded. It's the internet slang equivalent of that
cousin of yours who got held back in the fourth grade.

