Visual Complexity: Mapping Social Networks

Link: http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/index.cfm?domain=Social%20Networks

This link takes you to a list (in grid view) of several social networks. It explains graphically (through connecting dots forming a network), the spread of various companies, social networking website, applications, etc.

It is a website that must be visually appreciated, and clicking each one of the figures gives you a short explanation as well as a network diagram.

Here's an interesting one...
9/11 Terrorist Network
Author(s): Valdis Krebs
Institution: Orgnet.com
Year: (unknown)
URL: http://www.orgnet.com/hijackers.html
Project Description:
"Social Network Analysis is a mathematical methodology for connecting the dots -- using science to fight terrorism. Connecting multiple pairs of dots soon reveals an emergent network of organization. Once you have a network map, you can measure parts of the network, or the whole, using social network metrics."

Valdis Krebs used public information, from major newspapers on the WWW, to map the terrorist networks. In the network map, the hijackers are color coded by the flight they were on. The dark grey nodes are others who were reported to have had direct, or indirect, interactions with the hijackers. The gray lines indicate the reported interactions -- a thicker line indicates a stronger tie between two nodes. Notice the clustering around the pilots.