Graphical representation of connections between users
Recently, I've been looking for a way to graphically show connections between users in social network. The basic idea is to show it in 3d, in the simplest possible manner.
I tried to code this, but unfortunately I didn't knew any good-enough algorithm for counting the scene.
Other social networks tried to visualize connections. For example this graph was created at 2003 Club Nexus at Stanford University.
Few days ago I found very interesting application, RTgraph3d is a tool from Philippe Biondi, the author of very successful applications like Scapy.
What I found the most surprising, is that the results sometimes show something interesting. For example this image is showing someone's friends, with connections between them. From this image you can easily recognize three groups of friends. 
This is the example of the most common view, just a mess of connections between users.
This is yet another try. It shows two levels of links, but without connections between users at the same level.
RTGraph3D seems to be a good tool for such graphs. I have a tool, I have data, but I don't have an idea what other interesting things could be shown.
6 comments:
nice article. Did you end of creating a representation of a social network? I would like to see it. Am just trying to learn things here.
Creating graphical representation of a full network is not useful. Such graph will be too big to show anything (million nodes!).
The graphs in the article are showing connections from a single user.
I don't have more materials than those images.
http://pyevolve.sourceforge.net/wordpress/?p=203
http://blog.paulswartz.net/post/81241951/a-map-of-my-facebook-friends-via-nexus-ludios-net
Well, I have the materials and numbers to plug into your good work...
I agree that creating a graphical representation would not be useful unless you have a screen the size of the ones at the Disney World attractions.
However, in my case, I am in the process of launching (beta stage) a new website - myNonProfit Network, (NPN.org, a nonprofit organization. to 2.2 million Nonprofit organizations U.S. (employing 20 million peeople)and another 15 million Non-Governmental agencies (50 million employees) world wide.
There are certainly ways in which to sort these out into hubs and silos for instance; one way would be to sort them types of organizations (my grid shows 35 types of nonprofits)- defined in terms of their the Missions and services they provide for their unique audience.
Potential donors to the site would find such a representation very useful as they consider the scope and scale of the enterprise. Or in considering the business plan I am preparing for individual donors.
A graphical representation between the services we provide (perhaps 10types of bundled services)and the interaction of guests, vistors, nonprofits, consultants, tecnoogy links, donors, alumni,parners, and affiliates,to our business platfrom, now...that would be very useful indeed.
Such a representation would, I assume, also be able to provide a visual graphic of the intereactions between the micro interaction of certain elements of our business platform to the silos of people who we will serve.
The extrapolation of this to the macro level is then to quantify the numbers of people within the silos of groups of people who will participate in cetain programs and thereby be served, and then, given the parameters of the nonprofit sector, one could make that representation about as large, or small, as one wants.
I'd love to share my single- dimension graphical representation of our business platform, then raw numbers numebrs involved and its projected interaction with the largest social network in the world...the nonprofit sector with you, if you think that your program might provide be able to provide a new look at these interactions.
In that manner, I can provide you with an elementary one-dimensional graphical representation of the nonprofit sector represented by hubs and silos of the entire nonprofit sector and numbers to help tie it together.
If you are willing to take this on as a project, I would be most appreciative...and I can send you the representation, and the data anytime you desire.
I look forward to hearing from you, Bob Gearhart, CEO, myNonprofit Network.
I don't know if my response went through...if it did not, I have data that would provide a very valuable reprentation for me in a new organization.
I wrote a long post, but then did not have a google identity, then when I made it, my message disappeared.
Did you happen to receive it? If not, I will start over.
Thanks,
Bob Gearhart
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