Contemporary Gold Rush or Scientific Advancement: A Review of Social Network Analysis Approaches and their Impact

Following the expansion and mass adoption of Online Social Networks, the impact upon the domain of Social Network Analysis has been a rapid evolution in terms of approach, developing sophisticated methods to capture and understand individual and community interactions. This chapter provides a comprehensive review, examining state-of-the-art Social Network Analysis research and practices, highlighting key trends within the domain. In section 1, the authors examine the growing awareness concerning data as a marketable and scientific commodity. Section 2 reviews the context of Online Social Networking, highlighting key approaches for analysing Online Social Networks. In section 3, they consider modelling motivations of networks, discussing models in line with tie formation approaches. Section 4 outlines data collection approaches along with common structural properties observed in related literature. The authors discuss future directions and emerging approaches, notably semantic social networks and social interaction analysis before conclusions are provided.