The SOCIALNETS project explores how social networks can be exploited for the delivery and acquisition of content, including issues of security and trust. This covers both online social networks and opportunistic (mobile peer to peer) wireless networks. The project has produced a number of important findings:

• Exposure of the underlying dynamics of human relationships, from an ego-centric (i.e., social) perspective as well as the physical processes for dissemination, including the dynamics of information within and between networks through processes such as rumours and biological spreading;• Exposure of the underlying dynamics of human relationships, from an ego-centric (i.e., social) perspective as well as the physical processes for dissemination, including the dynamics of information within and between networks through processes such as rumours and biological spreading;

• Development of an adaptive social structure to transport content for uni-cast and any-cast scenarios. This involves (i) community detection; (ii) development of protocols that allow data to travel through human social structures exploiting opportunistic networking technologies;

• Behavioural based schemes for content management including: (i) social placement of content with human structures to achieve efficiency in for access; (ii) social schemes for incentivising cooperative behaviour and reciprocity; (iii) social mechanisms for intelligent pushing;

• An overarching scheme for social security using trust relationships within a decentralized (i.e., peer-based) architecture to cope with uncertain trust and cooperation. In this way trusted data storage services, privacy in data access and in data exchange, cooperation among peer nodes are all achieved;

• An overall architecture framework for organising the SOCIALNETS components through a social network layer, showing the different components and how these can combine to support each other;

• Determination of key future application scenarios and further understanding on how these might be exploited through the wireless market in future. Importantly, prospective application areas have been identified concerning social network blogging without the Internet, communication in developing regions and opportunistic computing.

Success Stories:

• Our scientific contributions are available as papers and deliverables

• Software for simulating key areas of the project.

• The prototype Safebook system for exploiting trusted social links in peer-to-peer applications. A video demo is available from Video-Demo

• A comprehensive report on the wireless market, including opportunities and barriers for the development of social network systems and results of a survey from the community

• Assessment of secret interest groups (SIGs) in social networks with an implementation on Facebook via a plug-in

SOCIALNETS has been in the news for its achievements on numerous occasions. The work of Robin Dunbar has been used to help configure the new social networking site Path. In undertaking the project the consortium have contributed to:

• 65 Conference publications

• 59 Journal publications (7 pending)

• 7 Book chapters

• 13 Workshops directly organised

• TPC in 150 events

• Over 100 talks with approximately 30% to lay audiences

Related Projects: