The social genome is the collection of data about members of a society that is captured in ever-larger and ever-more complex databases (e.g., government administrative data, operational data,
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
data etc.). Some have used the term
digital footprint
Digital footprint or digital shadow refers to one's unique set of traceable digital activities, actions, contributions and communications manifested on the Internet or digital devices. Digital footprints can be classified as either passive or ac ...
to refer to individual traces.
History
There have been two distinct uses of the term. First, the word Social Genome was used in a letter to the editor submission to Science in response to a seminal article about using
big data for
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
by King. The letter was published, but the word social genome was edited out of the letter. The original submission states, “A well-integrated federated data system of administrative databases updated on an ongoing basis could hold a collective representation of our society, our social genome.” Kum and others continue to use the word since 2011, with it being defined in a peer reviewed article in 2013. It states “Today there is a constant flow of data into, out of, and between ever-larger and ever-more complex databases about people. Together, these digital traces collectively capture our social genome, the footprints of our society.” In 2014, a vision paper on
population informatics The field of population informatics is the systematic study of populations via secondary analysis of massive data collections (termed " big data") about people. Scientists in the field refer to this massive data collection as the social genome, de ...
was published which further elaborated on the term.
Second, separately at about the same time, a group of researchers led by the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
started the Social Genome Project which built a data-rich model to map the pathway to the Middle class by tracing the life course from birth until middle age. The first paper
was published in 2012.
See also
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Population informatics The field of population informatics is the systematic study of populations via secondary analysis of massive data collections (termed " big data") about people. Scientists in the field refer to this massive data collection as the social genome, de ...
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Sociogenomics
Sociogenomics, also known as social genomics, is the field of research that examines why and how different social factors and processes (e.g., social stress, conflict, isolation, attachment, etc.) affect the activity of the genome. Social genomics ...
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Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of statistical techniques from data mining, predictive modeling, and machine learning that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or otherwise unknown events.
In busin ...
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Social media analytics
Social media analytics is the process of gathering and analyzing data from social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter. A part of social media analytics is called social media monitoring or social listening. It is commonly ...
*
Computational sociology
Computational sociology is a branch of sociology that uses computationally intensive methods to analyze and model social phenomena. Using computer simulations, artificial intelligence, complex statistical methods, and analytic approaches like s ...
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Comparative genomics
Comparative genomics is a field of biological research in which the genomic features of different organisms are compared. The genomic features may include the DNA sequence, genes, gene order, regulatory sequences, and other genomic structural ...
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Sociology of the Internet
The sociology of the Internet involves the application of sociological theory and method to the Internet as a source of information and communication. The overlapping field of digital sociology focuses on understanding the use of digital media ...
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Web science
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Big data
References
{{Reflist
External links
Social Genome page at the Population Informatics LabSocial Genome Project at the Brookings Institution
Computational science
Computing and society