[development] social network module

[Bèr Kessels]

Also have a look at profiles-as-nodes on groups.drupal.org
We are building a module/api/library that allows you to treat user-data as 
nodes.
And node-node relations, esp with taxonomy, is very easy. so youll get a lot 
for free if you require this project into yours. Feel free to post any 
concerns, ideas and/or requirements in that groups thread.

  http://groups.drupal.org/profiles-as-nodes

Bèr

Op zondag 28 mei 2006 23:37, schreef Albert Wong:
> Greetings - I don't generally post here, but I read your comment re: social
> networking and I didn't want it to fall through the cracks..
>
>
>
> . so I just wanted to give you a little bit of (hopefully helpful)
> guidance, regarding which direction to take, in case you're looking for
> some.  On dev / your 5.26.06 posting / it seemed as if you were trying to
> decide whether to go for developing either...
>
>
>
> (1) "social networking" capabilities, a la orkut -- for drupal end users --
>
> (2)  or network analysis -- for drupal admins.
>
>
>
> Personally, my vote is for polishing up the social network capabilies of
> drupal for end users, a la orkut.
>
>
>
> [In fact, (1) might be a prerequisite for a successful deployment of (2).
> Reasoning:   without adequate SN capabilities, there might be little
> network infrastructure to analyze.]  :-)
>
>
>
> Anyhow, that's my current interest and bias and in case you've elect to go
> that route, I've done some investigating of what drupal already has on
> offer, so could hopefully give you a bit of a head start.  There's
> definitely stuff you can build on, although there's also quite a ways to
> go.
>
>
>
> The principal social networking tool available in Drupal, imho, currently,
> is Drupal's "buddylist.module" which is supposed to be the rough equivalent
> of the common "friends" function you find on all the popular SN sites,
> orkut, myspace, etc.
>
>
>
> The module is well written and well documented.  So, I would consider
> building off of it.
>
>
>
> However, this module has two significant drawbacks,
>
>
>
> (1)  First, under its current cvs setup, *buddy relations are not
> symmetrical*.  That is, if A is buddy of B, it does not imply that B is
> buddy of A.  That is, buddylist treats friendship relationships as
> *directional*, rather than *mutual*.  This creates some confusing scenarios
> -- for example -- under the current setup, you can have the following
> situation:
>
>
>
> "Jack is buddies with Jill, but Jack is not buddies of Jill, where as Jill
> is not buddies with Jack, but Jill is buddies of Jack"
>
>
>
> [Did you get that?  ;-)]
>
>
>
> Although there might be some very unusual special cases where a
> unidirectional friend relationship might be useful, this is clearly,
> generally, not the common semantic case.
>
>
>
> (2)  Second, currently, *buddy relationships may be unilaterally
> determined*.  That is, A can unilaterally decide to declare that he is
> buddies with B, regardless of B's consent.  That is, for example:
>
>
>
> "Quasimodo, the crazy stalker, can decide *on his own* that he's buddies
> with Esmerelda, even though Esmerelda has placed a restraining order on
> Quasimodo."
>
>
>
> ;-)
>
>
>
> Again, this unilateral capability is not standard in the common usage of
> buddy relationships as a social networking tool - and for good reason, I
> believe.   Generally, buddy relationships are mutually and *consensually*
> determined.
>
>
>
> There are other more superficial issues regarding the polishing of
> buddylist, but these two issues strike at the core of it, and should be
> tackled first, imho.
>
>
>
> A solution to these two issues above has been posted as a patch here
> http://drupal.org/node/11892 -- it is patch that I wrote -- with help from
> RobRoy -- and functions without a hitch on my site, www.ithou.org .  This
> patch replaces the "asymmetric" / "non-consensual" framework with one that
> is "symmetric" and "consensual".  It is still awaiting review.  I imagine
> that you could assist in that polishing and review process and as part of
> your SoC contribution, you could help move Drupal and buddylist into a more
> solid social networking platform.
>
>
>
> Should this be of interest to you as part of your SoC project, please do
> not hesitate to contact me.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Albert
>
> albert [at] ithou.org

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