Geoportal & Social Network Sites
“A social network consists of a finite set or sets of actors and the relation or relations defined on them. The presence of relational information is a critical and defining feature of a social network.” [Wasserman, 1994]
As already stated, examples of web 2.0 applications include blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, tagging, social network sites (e.g. Facebook, Myspace), search engines, Massive Multiplayer Online and others.
The focus of the NaturNet Plus project is on social network sites (e.g Facebook, Twitter) as one of the main dissemination and communication tool.
The main aim of this activity is to communicate (to give information and to retrieve some feedback) about the NaturNet Plus developments through the NaturNet Plus Geoportal. This will enable to induce discussion about certain topics. The retrieved feedback should serve as input information for further developments.
The NaturNet Plus Geoportal will be an entry point for any news (new developments, problematic topics, progress in the project, etc.). News will be posted by the project partners and will be automatically distributed to a number of selected communities – social network sites. Feedback from these social network sites will be retrieved using RSS and answered again from the central point – NaturNet Plus Geoportal. See Figure 1.
Fig. 1 - Geoportal & Social Network Sites
This approach will allow involving other communities from one place without having to enter each community. Users of various social network sites can read entries and comment through their respective communities and don’t have to register elsewhere.
