A method for reducing the number of images or the length of a video from a digital image collection using a social network, includes receiving a digital image collection captured by a user to be viewed by a viewer; wherein the viewer and the user are members of the same social network and using a processor to access the social network to determine a relationship between a viewer and the user. The method further includes using the processor to determine a set of summarization parameters based on the relationship between the viewer and the user and using the processor to reduce the number of images or the length of the video from the digital image collection using the determined set of summarization parameters to be viewed by the viewer.