„Social network sites are web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site“ claim Boyd and Ellison (2007, p. 212) and underline the use of the term network instead of networking with the further argument that these two terms are often used interchangeably in public discourse even though they do not represent the same meaning; while networking primary represents any kind of connections (often between strangers), network symbolizes a more complex stable relationship usually based on latent ties.
What makes social network sites (further just SNS´s) unique is that they enable their users to articulate and make visible network kind of relationships, which also what differentiates them from any other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). However it does not mean that there is no networking on SNS´s, conversely there are many purely online based connections that would not otherwise be made, but as Boyd and Elison (2007) argue that is not the primary goal of SNS´s; “On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily “networking” or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them social network sites.” (p. 213).
