this module was by far the most difficult module of them all. What did i know about network visualization? Really, almost nothing at all. I began this module by opening up the resource links that were provided to us.
Definition: Networks, according to THIS are composed of stuff and relationships. It is important to note that this “stuff” and the “relationships” cannot hold on their own. They compose of something even bigger! Nodes are the technical term for the “stuff” (entities) while relationships are called “edges.” The more you know!
Exercise 1:
Since i have little knowledge on networks, i wanted to start from scratch. Exercise one was all about breaking networks down to a simple level. I was instructed to draw the networks around me, beginning with people i know. In this network visualization, i put myself in the center (naturally) and then worked my way through the most important people in my life. This was actually very fun! The more people i began to add, the more scattered my visualization became. Once i added in every close person i know, i ventured out to include people i sometimes talk. With these individuals, i made sure i connected them and put them closer to people they were friendlier with. This exercise allowed me to see the basics of networks. Networks can be extremely diverse and take so many different forms. It doesn’t begin or end with your friends. You can make network visualizations out of anything! Here’s mine:
Exercise 2:
I ten ventured off to working on the second exercise. This one was definitely more interesting and had more knowledge for me to dive into. This sight, Kindred Britain was amazing! It provided numerous British individuals and allowed you to see more information about them. From this information, you were then instructed to make new network circles and so on. This was more overwhelming than the other exercise but i still tried to do it. I played around with the website more than anything! I learned that even the smallest characteristic can link people together. For example, on the website, multiple people were connected socially because a sibling or parent knew another individual. These connections were much smaller but overall still portrayed the networks properly. Here’s a screenshot of the connections between “Alice in Wonderland.”:
Exercise 3:
Google “mapping social networks” was my third exercise. The instructions says to take three images and compare them. What do these images show and don’t they show? How do they use up space and such? The three images i chose:
What i see in all three pictures is endless connections. Both starry night and Monet’s painting use various colors and connect each other to make the overall photo. Maybe this is cheating but in the two paintings, it is much easier to see a network visualization than with the picture of Central Park. In the picture of central park, there is more space but in that space there are different things being connected that are totally unrelated when separated.
Overall, i think this was my most successful module because i was actually able to tackle a concept that i had no prior knowledge on and i think i was overall quite successful!
