social network

Definition of social network

1 : a network of individuals (such as friends, acquaintances, and coworkers) connected by interpersonal relationships

2 : an online service or site through which people create and maintain interpersonal relationships And millions of people have become comfortable using smart-phones to share information about themselves, via mobile apps that access social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. — The Economist

Examples of social network in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Teenagers are using the videoconferencing app Zoom as a makeshift social network, as my colleagues Taylor Lorenz, Erin Griffith and Mike Isaac reported. — Kevin Roose, New York Times, "The Week in Tech: How to Stop Coronavirus ‘Doomsurfing’," 20 Mar. 2020 Then, a few days ago, Aversano noticed a post on Nextdoor, the social network, where homebound residents have found a place to support each other and connect with neighbors. — Jason Fagone, SFChronicle.com, "Coronavirus leads to ‘an angel at my door’ in Marin County," 18 Mar. 2020 Obviously, social networks -- and technology that has facilitated them -- have recurred throughout human history, with impacts ranging from the uplifting to the terrible. — Brian Lowry, CNN, "'After Truth' and 'Networld' look at the dangers of the disinformation age," 17 Mar. 2020 The Democrats seem less like a solid organization than a social network, fragmentary and porous but just connected enough for some similar ideas to occasionally pulse through. — Benjamin Wallace-wells, The New Yorker, "The New Coalition Behind Joe Biden," 3 Mar. 2020 Countering misinformation and toxic user behavior have proven to be thorny problems for any social network, and Twitter has to do so with about 4% of the free cash flow that Facebook generates. — Dan Gallagher, WSJ, "Twitter Chief Needs to Pick a Perch," 2 Mar. 2020 Now, the social network’s users are responding to the news. — Amanda Shendruk, Quartz, "Twitter users react to a “vulture fund” planning to oust @Jack," 29 Feb. 2020 Recently, a video has been made viral on social networks, in which some baccalaureate students of our institution are exposed, making a game where the ... physical integrity of one of the young people would allegedly be put at risk. — Anthony Leonardi, Washington Examiner, "Doctors warn 'skull breaker challenge' on TikTok could be deadly," 20 Feb. 2020 Facebook employs artificial intelligence on the social network itself, as well as on Messenger and Instagram, resulting in more than 6 billion translations a day. — Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY, "Translate this: How real-time translation breaks down barriers when you don't speak the language," 5 Feb. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'social network.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about social network

Dictionary Entries near social network

social medicine

social networking

social organism

Statistics for social network

Last Updated

24 Mar 2020

Cite this Entry

“Social network.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20network. Accessed 1 Apr. 2020.

WORD OF THE DAY

loon

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

March 2020 Words of the Day Quiz

Which is a synonym of rectitudinous?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.