Composition and Structure of a Large Online Social Network in the Netherlands

Limitations in data collection have long been an obstacle in research on friendship networks. Most earlier studies use either a sample of ego-networks, or complete network data on a relatively small group (e.g., a single organization). The rise of online social networking services such as Friendster and Facebook, however, provides researchers with opportunities to study friendship networks on a much larger scale. This study uses complete network data from Hyves, a popular online social networking service in the Netherlands, comprising over eight million members and over 400 million online friendship relations. In the first study of its kind for the Netherlands, I examine the structure of this network in terms of the degree distribution, characteristic path length, clustering, and degree assortativity. Results indicate that this network shares features of other large complex networks, but also deviates in other respects. In addition, a comparison with other online social networks shows that these networks show remarkable similarities

Education for the future.

We asked young scientists: Are our schools and universities adequately prepared to educate young people for future challenges? What is the most pressing issue in your field, and what one improvement could your country make to its current education system to prepare students to face it? The responses expressed concerns about the current state of education in countries around the world. Many students lack access to the information they need, and those with access are often constrained by curriculum that emphasizes rote learning and isolated subjects. Our respondents suggested a variety of improvements to prepare the next generation for success