19.1. Social network

The term social network has been used systematically to denote patterns of connections in societies.
Social network theory focuses on the chains of relationships that social actors communicate and act within. These relationships can be described in terms of nodes and ties - where nodes are the individual actors within the social networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors.
Social network theory differs from some traditional sociological studies which take as their starting points the attributes and actions of individual actors. Social network theory produces an alternate view, where individuals are less important than their relationships, and their ties with other individuals.

Source(s):
DEMO_net. The role of Social networking software in eParticipation. Booklet, DEMO_net Consortium, 12 2007.

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