Programming Social Applications

Understanding Relationship Models

As we delve further into the core concepts underlying a user’s relationships with people and objects, and how applications can use that information, we need to understand the basic types of relationships that users have on the different social networks.

We will explore these three relationship models, which represent some of the most popular social sites available today:

Follower model

The user interacts with many other people at once.

Connection model

The user interacts with one other person at a time.

Group model

The user interacts with small groups of people.

Each model has its own reach and complexities. In the sections that follow, we’ll explore them in more depth to see what they are all about.