Social Networks: The Internet Continues to Evolve

[Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part series about social networks on the Internet. It discusses

The flurry of interest in personal online networking parallels what's been going on in the business and activist worlds. The real work in organizations, according to articles in two recent issues of Harvard Business Review, has already migrated from individuals to networks. Social networks are seen as keys not only to individual success, but to achieving organizational goals. To optimize their human "inventory," companies map employees' expertise and take advantage of their professional networks. Small wonder, then, that social network analysis is a growing academic field.