This document discusses using personal social networks as collaborative filters to find relevant information. It outlines that while search engines may return a high volume of results, most are irrelevant. Social networks could provide higher precision by leveraging relationships and shared interests among friends. The document proposes four solutions for social filtering: tagging, recommender systems, social search engines that integrate friends' shared content, and asking friends directly using social media. However, it notes that social filtering comes with its own tradeoffs and is not a perfect solution.

1. Is a personal network
better than Google?
Social networks as collaborative filter to find relevant
information
Patrick Danowski
IST Austria

2. Outline
• The problem
• An idea
• 4 solutions
• Sum-up

3. The problem

4. What we are looking 4

6. Found 10/10
0 additional result

7. 100 % Complete
100 % Relevance

8. Google

12. Found 9/10
990 additional result

13. 90 % Complete
1 % Relevance

14. Database

16. Found 5/10
90 additional result

17. 50 % Complete
10 % Relevance

18. Problem
Optimization of the relationship between
Precision and Completeness

19. An idea

20. The Ingredients

21. Tags

23. social networks

24. CC-BY
DarwinPeacock
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sna_large.png

28. Social Search

29. Looking for
informations inside of
your network

31. Found 6/10
10 addition result

32. 60 % Complete
50 % Relevance

33. Precision Recall
Google 1 % 90 %
Database 10 % 50 %
Social Search 50 % 60 %

34. Social Filters in practice

35. 4 Solutions
• Tagging
• Recommender Systems
• Social Search
• Lazyweb

36. Tagging

37. delicious

40. Bibsonomy

42. Recommender Systems

43. Users who bought A bought also B

44. Mandeley
• Citation Management Software
• support different Methods of Social
Filtering

48. Social Search

49. http://www.sharetivity.com/movie.html
http://www.sharetivity.com/movie.html

50. Social Search
• Integration of your shared sources
(facebook, twitter, myspace ... )
• Integration of resources of your friends
• Whats your friends find interesting is
higher ranked

51. Lazyweb

52. Old Method, new Tools
Ask your friends

53. On
Facebook & Twitter

56. So Problem solved?

57. no :-(

58. new strength

59. new weaknesses

60. no answer for
everything

61. additional strategies

62. Go social,
explore the potential
patrick.danowski@ist.ac.at