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FOAF
open-in-new
<p>FOAF (an acronym of <a href="/facts/Friend_of_a_friend/IqlDwGlX">friend of a friend</a>) is a <a href="/facts/Machine-readable_data/oKEyQhcl">machine-readable</a> <a href="/facts/Ontology_(information_science)/SQlhl6lp">ontology</a> describing <a href="/facts/Person/XD3Hhqup">persons</a>, their activities and their relations to other people and objects. Anyone can use FOAF to describe themselves. FOAF allows groups of people to describe <a href="/facts/Social_networks/3NkYaPIr">social networks</a> without the need for a centralised database. </p><p>FOAF is a descriptive vocabulary expressed using the <a href="/facts/Resource_Description_Framework/WMufyukm">Resource Description Framework</a> (RDF) and the <a href="/facts/Web_Ontology_Language/jkr0IGn8">Web Ontology Language</a> (OWL). Computers may use these FOAF profiles to find, for example, all people living in Europe, or to list all people both you and a friend of yours know. This is accomplished by defining relationships between people. Each profile has a unique identifier (such as the person's <a href="/facts/E-mail_address/srdpG6am">e-mail addresses</a>, international <a href="/facts/Telephone_number/Px4q5qFo">telephone number</a>, <a href="/facts/Facebook/0IhXFR6u">Facebook</a> account name, a <a href="/facts/Extensible_Messaging_and_Presence_Protocol/hgulEuRA">Jabber ID</a>, or a <a href="/facts/Uniform_Resource_Identifier/UjyqxTpA">URI</a> of the homepage or weblog of the person), which is used when defining these relationships. </p><p>The FOAF project, which defines and extends the vocabulary of a FOAF profile, was started in 2000 by Libby Miller and Dan Brickley. It can be considered the first <a href="/facts/Social_Semantic_Web/sMSbWpG7">Social Semantic Web</a> application, in that it combines <a href="/facts/Resource_Description_Framework/WMufyukm">RDF</a> technology with '<a href="/facts/Social_web/I3vjvJ1C">social web</a>' concerns. </p><p><a href="/facts/Tim_Berners-Lee/JRv21mt9">Tim Berners-Lee</a>, in a 2007 essay, redefined the <a href="/facts/Semantic_web/NFHo9dB7">semantic web</a> concept into the <a href="/facts/Giant_Global_Graph/jnuUB5WN">Giant Global Graph</a> (GGG), where relationships transcend networks and documents. He considers the GGG to be on equal ground with the <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a> and the <a href="/facts/World_Wide_Web/wvnTrWFq">World Wide Web</a>, stating that "I express my network in a FOAF file, and that is a start of the revolution." </p>