Towards a concept for inclusion of social network information as context information

In this paper, a concept for usage of social network information as context information is proposed. Social network information (or information from social network sites) is considered as a specific type of a user´s social context. We start with the potentially most widely accepted definition of context and then examine selected categorizations of context types, particularly focusing on social context. With an online survey we analyze the current usage pattern of social network site (SNS) and how the information available there is perceived by users. The results of the survey and subsequent analysis suggest that information about products and services from one´s social network contacts is perceived by users as trustworthy and relevant. Finally, based on the empirical results, a concept for inclusion of social network information into context information is proposed.