social graph
compound.compound. a map of all the people you know and how you are connected to them online. It shows who your friends are, who they follow, and how everyone in a network is linked together.
compound. a representation of the interconnection of relationships in an online social network. It maps the nodes (individuals or entities) and the edges (relationships or interactions) that define a digital community.
Social media companies use a social graph to suggest new friends.
By analyzing the social graph, the marketing team identified which users were the most influential within their specific hobby groups.
The platform's algorithm leverages the social graph to prioritize content from immediate connections while surfacing trending topics from the wider network of secondary and tertiary contacts.
A compound of the adjective social, from the Latin socialis, and the noun graph, derived from the Greek graphe. The term gained prominence following its use by Mark Zuckerberg at the G8 summit and the Facebook F8 conference in 2007.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Commonly used in the context of data science, social media architecture, and digital marketing.
Last updated July 22, 2026