Towards semantic social networks

Computer-enabled social services like tagging or sharing are ubiquitous in current web applications that are aimed to a group of users. These services do not only add value and new functionalities to their applications but also create a network of users and services that interconnect them to a wider on-line ecosystem. Currently these social networks mainly use the vast amount of user-created content, and activity logs to apply to provide recommendations and more complex services. This paper presents the Social Core a social network engine that implements semantic-based functionalities like semantic annotations, semantic search semantic-enhanced access control and user privacy protection. The Social Core was integrated as part of the SmartCampus mobile platform, which was tested by around one hundred students, and it is currently being further developed as part of European FP7 project SmartSociety.