Mining the Social Web, 3rd Edition

Preface

The Web is more a social creation than a technical one.

I designed it for a social effect—to help people work together—and not as a technical toy. The ultimate goal of the Web is to support and improve our weblike existence in the world. We clump into families, associations, and companies. We develop trust across the miles and distrust around the corner.

Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web (Harper)

A Note from Matthew Russell

It’s been more than five years since I put the final finishing touches on the manuscript for Mining the Social Web, 2nd Edition, and a lot has changed since then. I have lived and learned a lot of new things, technology has continued to evolve at a blistering pace, and the social web itself has matured to such an extent that governments are now formulating legal policy around how data can be collected, shared, and used.

Knowing that my own schedule could not possibly allow for the immense commitment needed to produce a new edition to freshen up and expand on the content, but believing wholeheartedly that there has never been a better moment for the message this book delivers, I knew that it was time to find a coauthor to help deliver it to the next wave of entrepreneurs, technologists, and hackers who are curious about mining the social web. It took well over a year for me to find a coauthor who shared the same passion for the subject and possessed the skill and determination that’s required to write a book.

I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful ...