One of the trends that we at Softescu think that will have a higher role in the future is the development of online social networks. Online social networks go nowadays beyond the main social & linking sites. Online social networks also referred as online communities are now coming to any type of organisation or company. They come as a natural response to one of the most demanding tasks of a company: keeping & developing contact with its' customers. As a company selling a product or a service or even as an NGO that seeks to connect with its peers, online social networks can help you foster a higher interaction, allow your peers to interact without any borders and on 24x7 basis.

Building online social networks is not easy. There are a few necessary ingredients that we would like to emphasize. The following information is part of our methodology of building online social networks.

First of all, building an online social networks is not about the technology but about the community. Every community has to have a goal. Goal of the community defines the needs. Once you have identified/defined your community you can choose then what are the best web 2.0 tools that will serve the needs of the community.

A community is built with the following factors:

• the nodes
• the ties: also known as the relationship
• the social prestige (also know as social status)
• the social capital

The nodes are the basic entity that is part of the network and in the social networks is mostly comprised of individual accounts.

The ties is the relationship that ties the nodes: friendship (facebook), business relations (Linkedin), persona interest (Twitter), content/knowledge, etc.

The social prestige/status is the differentiating value of a node vs other nodes. In offline social networks is how many rooms your house has, or how many wifes you have, how big is your car, etc. In online networks is the Kudos, the number of followers (Twitter), the number of connections (LinkedIn), the number of friends (Facebook), etc. Building an online social networks cannot exist without a social prestige indicator.

The social capital is the value that a node is getting out of the community participation. It's the new friends you make through Facebook, the new information you get from Twitter, the new business deals you get with Linkedin, etc.

Fail to take into consideration all these factors and your social network will most sure fail.

That's it for this first part on this topic. Visit us in the following weeks for the second part.