Marc Smith: Taking snapshots of virtual communities

Marc A. Smith on why the internet has been a gift to sociologists and how a sociological perspective is useful in visualizing the shape of online communities. He observes that most human beings are equipped to respond quickly and intelligently to visual information. And because information visualization is designed to transmit data insights to a human observer, it represents “one of the most humanist corners of the computer sciences.”

I.8 Treemap View of 2004 Usenet Returnees
