ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the social networks and starts with an introduction to the concept of social networks and real world example social networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. It then discusses the characteristics of social network analysis. The chapter presents social network performance in terms of aspects like robustness, efficiency, effectiveness, and diversity. Social networks operate on many different levels, from families up to nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run and the degree to which people succeed in achieving their goals. Social groups can exist as personal and direct social ties between individuals or as impersonal, formal, and instrumental social links. In social science, the structural approach to the study of interactions among social actors is called social network analysis. Social network analysts have highlighted the importance of network structure with relation to the network's robustness.
