You’ll also need a data source for your network. Don’t fret if you don’t have any Python skills - you should still be able to build basic networks. However, when using large amounts of data or data that must have its relationships extracted, I recommend Python. In order to build network graphs in Gephi, we’ll need to use a specific data format and we’ll need to fit our data in the correct format (CSV files). Gephi provides a GUI interface (seen below) and will not require any coding. We’ll use Gephi, a free software for Mac, PC, and Linux, in order to build network graphs and run some analytics on them. In no way are these the only or best tools available. This guide focuses on a specific set of tools in order to get you started making network graphs and conducting analysis on them. Like many things in data science, there are a variety of tools you can use to conduct SNA. More From Mitch Ditch Your Passwords - They’re Only Hurting You

An example of a social network graph would be this one, which demonstrates community detection of ISIS Twitter accounts. The points represent the actors and the lines represent the relationships. What Does a Social Network Graph Look Like?Ī social network graph contains both points and lines connecting those points - similar to a connect-the-dot puzzle. SNA techniques can also be applied to networks outside of the societal realm. Social network analysis (SNA), also known as network science, is a field of data analytics that uses networks and graph theory to understand social structures.

Applied network analysis definition