Programming Social Applications

The Connection Model

Taking a 180-degree turn from the follower model, the connection model focuses on personal, singular interactions with other people or objects. To this end, implementers typically allow users to generate highly detailed and rich profile systems and tie them to other groups, organizations, and movements.

This model focuses on shared social experiences rather than the quick dissemination of information to large groups. Users of this model tend to share many of the most important events of their lives—both good and bad—with their friends via text, photos, and videos.

Example

Facebook is an ideal example of this model type. The meat of the site is constructed around its users’ social profiles, which allows individuals to reach out and share pieces of information with one another and interact on a very personal level.

Although the Facebook news feed acts as a global push mechanism to share information with all of your friends, the true advantage for most active users is on the personal level. When you post items to your Wall, your friends may comment, providing a shared social experience. People who do not use Facebook simply as a feed mechanism for cross-posting between multiple services (such as Twitter) can use the site to develop highly engaging social experiences with friends, family, coworkers, or even strangers.

Between constructs such as direct messaging, status comments, groups, pages, applications, and more, Facebook offers users the opportunity to build a comprehensive ...