Implicit Affinity Networks

Abstract

Social networks are typically constructed around an explicit and well-defined relationship among individuals. In this paper, we describe another class of social networks, known as Implicit Affinity Networks (IANs), where links are implicit in the patterns of natural affinities among individuals. Preliminary results with two Web communities, one focused on people's interests and one focused on people's blogs, exhibit rich dynamics and show interesting patterns of community evolution. 1.