Information Social Networks: one history and one case study.

Abstract

We live in a fluid world characterized by complexity. Dynamism of the relationship between agents, open systems, unpredictability, nonlinearity, self-organization, adaptability, creativity, instability, emergence, uncertainty, connectivity and flow are some of the hallmarks of contemporaneity, where Information and Networks emerge as catalysts of reality. In social context, the exchange of information resources takes place through social relations established between social agents. The so formed intertwined relationships, are the Social Networks through which Information flows. From this standpoint, we should try to answer the question, "how does social information flows relate to the topology and dynamics of Social Networks?" In this paper, we give an historical overview of networks and social networks concepts, briefly describe the method of Social Networks Analysis (SNA) and illustrate the information behavior in organizations with a case study of information social networks.