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Software for Social Networking Diagrams?
jonerik writes "A friend of mine who is attempting to create three-dimensional computer models of social networks is looking for software that can do the job; in her words, 'the computer version of a tinker toy set.' She'd prefer software for the Mac, however she has access to PCs so MS-based software would be okay, too. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?" Think about molecular modelling, where each "atom" is either an agency or an individual and the "bond" is the connection between the two.
"More specifically, here's what she'd like it to be:
- easy to learn for someone without graphics background- 'I can NOT make a career out of learning it.'
- something like a molecular model of social networks where each node represents an agency and can have many different types of connections. It should at least be able to handle something on the order of 250 interconnected nodes.
- able to edit the model on the fly - adding information as I learn about connections.
- able to rotate the model, enlarge sections to view detail, and maybe somehow attach descriptions to the nodes and connections (so one can identify a connection with a particular agency role or individual)."
To better explain my comment above: The molecular model is too simple. There are many more different kinds and qualities of connections between people than kinds of molecular bonds. So, software to display connections between people would need a far more complex display.
My guess is that no such software exists. This is, apparently, a huge new programming problem. It is also one that would be very valuable to solve.
I did a sociogram of myself once, and discovered that I knew about 200 people (some of them secretaries with whom I worked, and so on). Even just drawing simple lines between people was interesting.
The interesting challenge would be, not to show relationships in a static way, such as "romance", but to show dynamic interaction, such as "B influences A in ideas about psychology".