A Review for the Online Social Networks Literature (2005-2011)

Although Online Social Networks (OSNs) such as MySpace, Facebook, and Youtube are still under development; they have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. There are hundreds of OSNs, with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and practices. However, impact of OSNs is increasingly pervasive and numerous researchers worked on different aspects on social networks. There is no research work for identification and classification of this literature. So, the purpose of this study is to presents a literature review for research works in OSNs. The review covers 132 journal articles published from 2005 to 2011. The reviewed articles classified OSNs literature into four distinct categories: the “Application”, “Survey and Analysis”, “Concept”, and “Technique”. The findings of our study reveal that “applications” were the most frequently category has been considered in the literature. Also, the subject of social networking is somehow overlooked in developing and under-developed countries. This review will provide a source for anyone interested in discovering research trends in social network sites literature, and will help to simulate further interest fields in the area. Keywords: Social network sites (SNSs), Online Social Networks (OSNs), Social media, Social networking