This week in Business Intelligence class, we learned about the use of network graphs and how they play a vital role in Business Intelligence. The LinkedIn example is a good way to show how people are related to you.

One of the tools that I have exposure to is NodeXL when it comes to generating network graphs. More information about NodeXL can be found here:

http://cwebbbi.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/nodexl-network-graphs-and-the-eurovision-song-contest/

According to Chris Webb, NodeXL and network graphs in general are: "Basically a tool for displaying and analysing network graphs. That sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is – really all it means is that you can use it for analysing the relationships between things"

Network graphs can be useful for understanding how to group different people into a section. It is very useful when you want to understand how things are related to one another, and to have different groupings. Here is a picture of a typical network graph:

When I have used NodeXL, it has been primarily for understanding the different social media users or sources that are talking about a specific topic. This is useful for businesses to know where they are being talked about on the Internet, and if there are any relations with this.


Social Media networks seem to be the most interesting to see how things are interrelated. Facebook and LinkedIn both have nice tools to map this for you.