When most of us hear the term “social network”, we think of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any other popular social media applications. In the article, “Demystifying Networks” by Scott Weingart, Weingart gives a much more simple definition of a network. He defines it as “a net-like arrangement of threads, wires, etc”. So Facebook is a network because it connects us to those we communicate with in various ways (pictures, chat, messages and status updates). Social media networks allow you to have a much larger “network” of friends than you would be able to if you only talked to those in your network in person. In a similar article, Social Network Analysis, A Brief Introduction, it is described that social network analysis is “the mapping and measuring of relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, computers, URLs, and other connected information/knowledge entities”. This article also provides a helpful visual and example of a “Kite Network”, where two nodes are connected if they regularly talk to each other. If two nodes are not directly connected, but appear on the same network, the groups they are representing could be considered “mutual friends”. They may not know each other, but know someone in common. This is probably how Facebook suggests “People You May Know”. There is probably a network in their data base set up like this and the more mutual connections you have to someone, the more likely they are to be suggested because you are more likely to friend someone you have 50 mutual connections with as opposed to only two. Instagram also recently started suggesting pictures you may like under the explore tab of the application. When you open any of the posts, it will say if it was suggested “based on people you follow” or “popular in your country”. I think this version of the explore tab is much more effective than the previous “popular” tab, which just displayed the most popular pictures on Instagram because the suggested photos are much more personalized and you are more likely to like something that is similar to other photos you’ve liked than just what is popular among everyone. Instagram’s new explore tab and Facebook mutual friends show the importance of social networks and how they are used in social media. Now when I hear the term, “social network”, I will think of the interlocking nodes behind it and not just Facebook in general.