Roles in social networks: Methodologies and research issues

Abstract

The expansion of web user roles is, nowadays, a fact due to the ability of users to interact, discuss, exchange ideas and opinions, and form social networks through the web. The interaction level among users leads to the appearance of several social roles which can be characterized as positions, behaviors, or virtual identities. These roles may be developed in social networks, and they keep changing and evolving over time. In this article, a survey of the state-of-the-art approaches is presented regarding the identification of roles within the context of a social network. It is shown that social roles exist as a function of each other; they appear and evolve through user interaction. Different approaches are analyzed and additional characteristics that should be taken into account during the role analysis are discussed.