social networks final
Social capital - 2 meanings - Bourdieu and Lin -
the value of people's personal social networks to helping them get ahead
Why didn't Rivera's elite professional service companies rely on employee referrals to find new employees?
(1) everyone wants to work there and (2) they used Ivy League professional schools to screen potential employees for them (both admissions departments and personal recommendations by faculty).
Close ties were associated with
(a) trust and reduction of monitoring costs (b) exchange of fine-grained information (c) cooperative problem-solving. Networks as governance structures (alternatives to markets and bureaucracies for managing relationships and ensuring acceptable behavior). Firms with strong ties had lower failure rates.
Games did best
(market success + critical acclaim) when teams had varied experience/ expertise ("cognitive distance") but history of working together.
Why many employers like to hire candidates based on recommendation of employees
(trust - employee doesn't want to lose status; homophily; employee has high-quality knowledge about applicant; informal training).
McAdam: Freedom Summer
1. Biographical availability: This refers to an individual's capacity to participate in activism without significant personal costs. People without substantial family or work obligations, often younger individuals such as college students, were more likely to participate in high-risk activism like Freedom Summer. 2. High-cost activism: Volunteers faced potential violence, arrest, and intense hostility. High-cost activism demands a greater level of commitment and often attracts individuals with a stronger motivation or deeper ideological beliefs. 3. Recruitment a. Initial engagement through weak ties b. Development of new ties through participation c. Stronger socialization and development of commitment d. Construction of activist identity leads to more participation leads to stronger integration into activist networks in positive-feedback circle. e. Importance of strong ties (but not weak) in recruitment to Freedom Summer; strong ties to withdrawers predicted withdrawing application.
Law enforcement use of social media:
1. Data analytics - construction of criminal (and suspected criminal) networks through use and collection of big data 2. Impersonating young people to "friend" gang members for access to their posts 3. Big-city police using multi-mode networks, including ego networks of target individuals and connections (kinship, social media, etc.) among them to construct larger nets. 4. Police use software that locates suspected gang members social media photos and map them geographically - adding spatial information to network files 5. Result - extensive gang data basis with network info based on suspect criteria (e.g. wearing a particular kind of hat; or having been a victim of gang violence) 6. Predictive Policing - People and places 7. Place networks and place management 8. Pros and cons of law enforcement use of network analysis
Important constitutive decisions in earliest government, scientific and university networks
1. End-to-end principle This principle guided the design of the Internet's architecture, emphasizing the importance of keeping the network itself as simple as possible and placing the intelligence at the edges 2. TCP/IP TCP/IP enabled diverse computer networks to interconnect and communicate with each other. This protocol suite is the foundation of the Internet and supports its scalability and flexibility. 3. Redundancy Redundancy in networking refers to having multiple pathways for data transmission so that if one path fails, data can be rerouted through another. This was particularly important for military and governmental networks, like ARPANET, where maintaining communication in the event of a node failure or other disruptions was critical.
The digital street (Jeff Lane) - how young people in Harlem used social media (Lane)
1. Implications of video and permanent record 2. Social media as performance site 3. Use of social media by girls to reduce risk in courtship 4. Use of social media by adults (and some kids) to limit violence
El Qaeda as a corporate holding company: 9/11 network (Krebs): Key features
1. Isolation from host society 2. Minimization of interaction 3. "massive redundancy through trusted prior contacts" mostly invisible while in U.S. 4. Concentration of ties around pilots, who had unique skills (potential vulnerability) 5. Sparse network among hijackers; denser networks when one adds outside ties, which served as bridges.
Network influences on voting:
1. Parents influence whether kids vote (more than whom they vote for) 2. Randomly assigned college roommates were more likely to vote if they were interested in politics and their roommates talked politics with them and voted themselves (even if they disagreed) 3. Spouses influence one another's voting 4. Close FB friends influence likelihood of voting - not just on friends but on close friends of close friends
Gang use of social media
1. Recruitment and identity building 2. Intimidation or humiliation of rival gangs 3. Mobilizing members for conflict or criminal acts 4. Monitoring and sharing information about police activity
In social movement activism, networks:
1. Reduce recruitment costs by serving as conduits of information: Networks significantly lower the costs and barriers to recruitment by facilitating the flow of information. 2. Provide multiple persuasive influences to complex contagions - strong ties especially: complex contagions refer to the spread of behaviors or beliefs that require multiple sources of reinforcement before an individual adopts them. Strong ties, such as close friends or family members, provide repeated and persuasive influences that can encourage individuals to join and remain active in a movement. 3. Build confidence as people participate together: Collective action, solidarity, and the shared experience of working towards a common goal reinforce individual commitment and can empower participants. 4. Give broader meaning: They give broader meaning to participation by connecting individual efforts to the collective goals and values of the movement. This sense of being part of something larger than oneself can be a powerful motivator and can help maintain engagement over time.
Bases of trust in markets:
1. Repeated transactions 2. Information from mutual friends or contacts about potential exchange partners 3. Crowdsourced information (Yelp, Amazon, etc.) 4. Calculative trust due to one's partner's concern for their reputation or desire for repeat business 5. Hostage taking (arrangements that make each party vulnerable to the other)
Three revolutions:
1. Social Network revolution (participating in multiple worlds, with bridges to each, and need to reconcile conflicting demands and identities) 2. Internet Revolution - access to knowledge and ability to be cultural producer 3. Mobile Revolution (always on, always connected)
What properties of criminal or terrorist or other illicit networks follow from their need for secrecy and trust?
1. people from one national-origin or ethnic group 2. people with shared experiences in high-pressure, high-risk settings (war zones, prison) 3. neighborhoods where everyone knows everyone else and families are accountable (organized crime) 4. Importation of recruits from home country (Mafias) 5. Kinship and intermarriage (crime groups) to build bonds 6. Intense ideological socialization and training (especially terrorist groups) 7. Hostage taking (mafias, terrorist groups); 8. Extensive vouching requirements (recommendations from trusted members) 9. Long training period before admission (Mafias) 10. Participation in serious crime (esp. murder) as test of authenticity and commitment
Contract enforcement strategies include:
1. violence and coercion; 2. hostage taking (literally or figuratively); 3. commitment mechanisms (ideology and religion); 4. dense, cohesive networks with strong anti-snitching norms; 5. mediation - appeals to higher levels (mafias).
3 ways people avoid political arguments:
1.Drop people they disagree with 2.Overestimate how much their friends agree with them 3.Don't talk about things you know you disagree about
Bello and Rolfe studied political discussion networks in months before election
1.People often disagree with family members or spouses about politics, and can rarely avoid discussions 2.With other people they avoid discussions about politics if they disagree 3.During the political campaign, people changed their political discussion partners a lot, but usually disagreed with about 20-25% of them 4.Strong partisans more likely to drop people with whom they disagree and have echo chamber networks.
Mutz: Cross-cutting social networks and political talk
1.People who talked politics with people they disagree with can articulate the other side's opinions better - especially if they believed in the value of political civility 2.And, if they could, and if their discussion partners were strong ties, they were more tolerant 3.But not everyone believed in civility and many people avoid discussing politics with people with whom they disagree. 4.Mutz: The more people disagree about politics, the less likely they are to talk about it. 5.People with lots of education and money participate in and pay attention to politics the most - but talk the least with people with whom they disagree. The more extreme are people's views, the less politically diverse are their discussion networks.
Web with hypertext
= directed graph
Eric Blanc and teachers' unions
Arizona did better than Oklahoma (against all odds) because they combined social media with traditional organizing, taking their time to build a movement face to face before striking - social media is great for getting out information, less useful for building commitment.
How structural autonomy differs from brokerage
Brokerage refers to a single network position - a broker is the bridge between two components of a graph. Structural autonomy summarizes the pattern of a person's relationships and their tendency to occupy bridging positions.
criminal network
Crime Site: This is typically a place where criminal activities occur. Therefore, it would be considered a criminally networked location. Corrupting Spots: These could be places where corruption or other illegal activities are facilitated or where individuals are drawn into criminal behaviors. Such spots are likely to be criminally networked. Comfort Spaces: This term is less clear in the context of criminal networks. Comfort spaces could refer to places where individuals feel at ease or secure, which doesn't inherently imply criminal networking. This might not be a criminally networked location unless used specifically in that context. Convergent Settings: This term suggests places where people or activities converge, which could include criminally networked locations if used for criminal purposes.
Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft
Communities of propinquity vs. Communities of affinity communities of affinity are formed based on shared interests, values, beliefs, or identities, regardless of physical proximity.
Experimental studies - Netville
Internet access associated with knowing more neighbors and knowing more dispersed group of neighbors; more visiting neighbors in homes; and more contact with friends and relatives outside of Netville.
Key terms in Internet:
DNS (domain name system) and ICANN Protocols (e.g. TCP.IP, HTTPS, VoIP etc.) Packets Browsers Search engines - Google pagerank - spiders (or "spiderbots") Routers Packet-sniffing Peering Points/Internet Exchanges Network Service Providers (backbone companies) Internet Service Providers ("last-mile" companies) CDS (Content Distribution Companies - Google, Netflix, etc.)
Major factors associated with reduced probability of home broadband access
Education: Lower levels of education are often associated with reduced access to home broadband. This may be due to a lack of awareness about the potential benefits of internet access or a lack of digital literacy skills. Income: As suggested by the price hypothesis, lower-income households often have less access to broadband. Children under 18 in the Home: The presence of children in a home can impact broadband access in complex ways. While families with children might prioritize internet access for educational purposes, economic constraints in households with children might also reduce the ability to afford such access.
Partisanship on Social Media:
Facebook's algorithms reduce cross-ideological content 15% -- but though cross-ideological content gets through, users don't look at it. FB friend networks have about 20% people with different ideologies. Blogs and twitter accounts are also ideologically polarized.
Bond et al: Facebook experiment:
Get out the vote message influenced voting - especially when Facebookers saw the faces of their friends who had already voted. All the effects through close friends (strong ties, not weak).
folded diversity
Importance of combining diversity (cognitive distance, or thinking about problems differently) with trust and shared experience working together. "Cognitive diversity predicts distinctiveness but has a negative effect on critical acclaim." "Only when [cognitive diversity] is associated with the presence of structural folds does it have a positive effect on both distinctiveness and critical acclaim."
Christopher Bail
In experiment, exposed people to (mainstream) views from the other political side (with their consent), to see if exposure would make people more tolerant and open-minded. Results: No effect on liberals; conservatives became more hostile.
Regular people use networks (within-network exchange) - when the purchases are
Infrequent (homes) Consequential (homes, professional services) Quality is hard to evaluate - homes, used cars, professional services And when they have the right people in their personal networks
Wellman and Wortley: Varieties of social support Bases of support:
Kinship: Support from family. Resources: Assistance related to material resources. Similarity: Support from those who share common characteristics or interests.
transaction costs
Lack of recourse to legal dispute resolution (e.g. courts) and lack of access to legal financial institutions raises transaction costs
Emotion and effectiveness in social media
Moral contagion/ emotional contagion Fake news Affective polarization Bots Criticisms against and defenses of social media.
Web 0.0
Navigation 1. Information + Search 2. Stable URLs and hyperlinks - everyone sees the same thing 3. communication one way 4. Business Model: None
Technological path dependence and constitutive decisions
Path Dependence: This term describes how the set of decisions one faces for any given circumstance is limited by the decisions one has made in the past Constitutive Decisions: These are key decisions that help to form, shape, or define the development of a technology or an organization. This concept relates to how the choices made in the development of a technology can set a path that becomes hard to deviate from, often due to the substantial investments and adaptations made around it. Constitutive decisions are the key choices that shape the technology's development and use. For example, the QWERTY keyboard layout, initially designed to prevent typewriter jams, has remained standard long after the reason for its design became obsolete, illustrating path dependence.
Why real people don't act like "homo economicus" (rational, selfish, economic maximizers with stable preferences)
People follow norms of reciprocity and fairness Most people care about others Some people care about their own reputation for caring about others People's preferences are be influenced by their social networks People have limited information and limited information-processing capacity Social networks are a solution to limits to rationality....
Major challenge to criminal and terrorist networks (Raab and Milward reading):
Striking balance between need for secrecy (and therefore for trust) vs. need for efficiency (rapid coordination and recruitment of talented individuals). To manage this challenge, these networks often employ strategies ranging from structured hierarchies to decentralized operations, constantly adapting to maintain this balance in the face of evolving external pressures such as law enforcement tactics and technological advancements.
Tensions in teams between diversity and cohesiveness
Ray Reagans research on R&D teams - found that most successful teams combined diversity and cohesiveness Network density: Percent of all communication channels used Network heterogeneity: The extent to which scientists interact with team members different from themselves in organization tenure • Results: • Diversity increases network heterogeneity • Density enhances performance • Network heterogeneity enhances performance • Teams that combine network density with network heterogeneity have the best results. Teams do best when they can push out the tradeoff frontier between diversity and cohesion to gain the benefits of each.
Web 2.0
Relational 1. Social 2. Authoring, cloud computing, and social media 3. Multi-party communication 4. Business Model: Hold onto eyeballs and sale ads and personal info
Cultural matching (Rivera). To what job market can Rivera's results be generalized? What about these jobs may make cultural matching a rational criterion?
Rivera's findings on cultural matching are particularly relevant to professional service firms and organizations where teamwork is crucial. In such environments, the cultural fit between employees is essential for effective collaboration and team dynamics. Teamwork: Effective teamwork often requires a cohesive group dynamic, where individuals share similar values, work ethics, and communication styles. Cultural matching can help ensure that team members work well together, leading to increased productivity and better team morale. Client Interactions: In roles with frequent client interactions, cultural fit might be important to ensure that employees represent the company's values and can effectively engage with clients. Shared cultural norms can facilitate smoother communication and understanding between employees and clients. High-Stress Environments: In high-stress work environments, having a team that shares similar coping mechanisms, work attitudes, and stress management strategies can be crucial. Cultural matching can help create a supportive environment where employees can better handle stress and collaborate effectively under pressure.
Giant component at center of web
Some smaller components that can be reached from center but don't reach in and vice versa
Density of strong-tie ego networks vs. density of weak-tie ego networks
Strong-tie ego networks are denser, meaning members of the network are more likely to know each other. Weak-tie networks are less dense, with members less likely to be interconnected.
Why Structural Autonomy is more than just Brokerage
Structural Autonomy • Refers to an actor's whole network • A continuous variable - you can have more or less structural autonomy • Makes it possible to compare employees across an entire organization • Can test hypotheses about how a tendency to be a broker (autonomy) affects careers Brokerage • Refers to a single tie • A binary variable - you are either a broker or you aren't • Less information about the range of a person's relationships • Doesn't take account of indirect ties that limit opportunity for brokerage.
Structural autonomy (and its inverse, structural constraint).
Structural autonomy is the extent to which a person occupies structural holes, serving as a broker in a network. Structural constraint is the opposite, indicating limitations in one's network.
Innovation and recombination of ideas and expertise
Structural folds enable recombination of ideas and expertise from different groups, enhancing innovation.
Why high-skill organizations are moving toward team-based production, using both internal firm networks and inter-organizational networks
Temporary assignments create enduring network ties Solving non-routine problems requires combining multiple skills Teams are collaborative and effective under time pressure from markets and clients.
How brokers gain career advantage from their positions
The tertius gaudens who fills this structural hole is a broker. Burt found that (after statistical controls) managers who had more structural autonomy: •Got higher salaries • Received better performance evaluations • Were more likely to be promoted • And had ideas that company executives evaluated as higher quality
Digital divide: price hypothesis
This hypothesis suggests that the primary barrier to internet access is the cost of the technology itself, including the necessary hardware (like computers or smartphones) and the ongoing expenses for internet service (like broadband subscriptions). According to this view, the digital divide is largely an economic issue, where lower-income individuals and households are less likely to afford these technologies and services. Therefore, strategies to bridge the digital divide under this hypothesis focus on making internet access more affordable, such as through subsidized broadband programs or lower-cost devices.
Experimental studies - Blacksburg Electronic Village
This project provided residents with internet access and aimed to study its impact on community life and civic engagement. The findings indicated that while the internet was a useful tool for participating in civic activities, it primarily enhanced engagement among those who were already active in their communities.
Time Diary research
Time Diary research is a method of studying how people allocate their time across different activities. Participants are asked to record their activities in a diary over a designated period, providing detailed accounts of what they do, for how long, and sometimes with whom. （related to more socializing, more work, more other leisure activities, less TV and less sleep）
Web 1.0
Transactional web - 1. Commercial 2. JavaScript and cookies facilitated direct transactions with websites and long-term relationships 3. Limited Bi-directional Communication 4.. Business Model: Sales
What weak ties are good for and why strong ties are not as useful for information
Weak ties are especially valuable for providing information that one would not typically have access to through their immediate network. This is because weak ties often connect an individual to different social circles and networks, thereby offering novel and diverse information. Strong ties, being closer and more emotionally involved, might not offer as diverse or novel information due to their proximity and similarity to the individual. However, strong ties are more useful for support because they are emotionally closer, more trustworthy, and invested in the individual's well-being.
Probability of strong vs. weak ties being bridging ties.
Weak ties are more likely to serve as bridging ties, connecting different social circles or networks.
Relative quality of information from strong vs. weak ties
Weak ties often provide more novel and diverse information because they connect individuals to different social circles and networks. Strong ties, being closer and more emotionally invested, might offer more relevant but less diverse information.
Why firms can often do without explicit detailed contracts
Where uncertainty is low (purchasing a standard product with many suppliers), markets and prices work fine. Where uncertainty is high o Contracts cannot specify every possible event o Parties behave because they are concerned about reputations o Parties cooperate because they want to continue relationships Contracts are the last resort if networks fail (people cooperate under the shadow of the law - i.e. knowing that they could be sued)
Possible explanations:
ambiguous question (what is an "important" matter); respondent fatigue; bad interviewers failed to push respondents to answer; timing around presidential debates may have primed people to think that "important" meant "political."
Increased partisan polarization in U.S. since 1980s, first in Congress and then to activists and then to regular Republicans and Democrats. Increased partisan sorting in networks:
by media choices, residential choices, favorite employers, and spouses or dates.
Networked Individualism (Rainie and Wellman)
combination of core networks as always with added weak ties for greater reach, more diversity, more functional differentiation; weak ties more plentiful because they are easier to maintain.
Support from strong ties
emotional aid (especially from women), companionships, financial and other assistance.
Knowledge-Gap Hypothesis:
even if access is made affordable, a lack of skills or confidence in using digital technologies can still prevent effective utilization of these resources. Solutions here focus on education and training programs to improve digital literacy and familiarity with technology.
Impact of referrals on racial discrimination (Fernandez's call center; Peterson's high-tech company study)
for applicants without referrals from a current employee, whites had a big advantage; for applicants with referrals, there was no racial discrepancy.
Competitive businesses can benefit from
forming network ties to competitors in order to lobby government for shared goals, enforce norms against price competition, exchange useful information about best practices or market conditions
Structural holes
gaps between non-redundant contacts or groups in a network, where brokers can mediate and transfer information.
Mario Small on
how organizations can build social capital, and when and how nonprofit organizations becomes sites of "meeting" and "mating" for their clients.
Dark web
illicit websites without URLs - reached through IP addresses circulated through informal networks
There are two kinds of trust
in competence and in honesty
Homo Economicus:
individuals are portrayed as self-interested actors who pursue their own economic interests without considering social connections or networks.
Later research
informal (network-based) search used more by women than men, people of color rather than whites, by low-income and low-education people, and people in high-poverty neighborhoods, but returns to network-based search are higher for men and whites.
Support from weak ties
information, more specialized kinds of assistance.
Affordances vs. effects of technology
inherent possibilities offered by a technology (affordances) with the actual impacts it has on society (effects). For example, the internet affords instant global communication, but its effects include both positive outcomes like increased accessibility to information and negative outcomes like spread of misinformation.
Mcpherson et al - social isolation in the 2004 General Social Survey core discussion network question - basic finding
more people with no discussion partners; average network size smaller
Internet
network of networks - physical system
The role of social networks in neoclassical economic theory
none. People are utility maximizers making independent decisions based on prices.
Relative role of weak ties and strong ties in job-seeking in particular
novel information from weak ties; referrals and endorsements, as well as relevant information, from strong ties
Characteristics of good information
o Novel - They have info your close friends don't o Rich - They can tell if the coworkers are competent, the boss nice, do people get promoted, is the company doing well; and what exactly they are looking for. o Trustworthy - Acquaintances have no strategic reason to mislead you about jobs.
Criteria for strong ties vs. weak ties (duration, frequency of interaction, intimacy/closeness, multiplexity)
o Strong ties are characterized by longer duration, more frequent interaction, emotional closeness, and multiplexity (involvement in multiple aspects of a person's life). Weak ties are less frequent, less emotionally intimate, and typically involve fewer contexts
Why did managers and professionals use personal contacts more than scientists and engineers?
o skill requirements are low o technical workers in great demand and head hunters looked for them
World Wide Web
part of the Internet - public pages connected by hyperlinks
DeVaan, Vedres and Stark: "Game Changer" Structural folds:
people who are members of more than one group and can translate between them and unlock the value of the differences they bring to the table
How structural folds differ from structural holes
person in fold is deeply involved in both components, not just a bridge over a structural hole
What was the most common way to find a job?
personal contacts or networks, weak ties
What way was associated with the greatest satisfaction and least dissatisfaction with one's job.
personal contacts, referrals
Fischer on urban communities
personal networks just as large, but based less on propinquity and more on shared interests; Urban ego nets less dense and less multiplex than non-urban networks, but just as satisfying.
Uzzi's garment companies' networks
portfolios of a lot of "arm's-length" (Refers to transactions or interactions in a market setting where individuals or entities engage in economic exchanges without close personal or social connections) relationships; and a few "embedded" "special" relationships (close, multiplex ties among businesspeople and their suppliers, customers or competitors).
Three payoffs to structural holes:
power - Tertius Gaudens, Strategic Action flexibility- Producing Value While Advancing Personal Interests vision- Recombining Ideas from Different Sources
Networks as a solution to
problems of Information asymmetry (i.e. sellers having more information than buyers about the thing that is for sale)
Coleman, Putnam -
social networks and social norms that enhance trust and investments in collective goods (and civic engagement) in groups. Putnam's evidence that "social capital" has declined (trust, group memberships, voting, socializing with friends); Fischer's evidence that it hasn't (more volunteering, big decline in crime rates, more informal participation in social activities)
Networks
solve problems of trust
Movement leaders disproportionately have participated in several kinds of movements
they produce structural folds that use language meaningful to all sides and build a sense of common purpose. Leaders with experience in various movements can create these folds by connecting different groups, ideologies, and resources. This bridging is crucial for coalition-building and for the amplification of a movement's reach and impact.
How do failed states facilitate the growth of criminal and terrorist networks? ((Raab and Milward)
use of state powers over banks, passports, army, and rights to shipping lanes and air lanes (Raab and Milward).
Social support
variation by age and class: social support from family is greatest in youth and old age; social support from friends is stable (but lower) throughout. High SES people rely more on friends; low-SES people rely more on families.
Nan Lin's discovery
weak ties get people better jobs, but only if the weak ties are higher status than the job-seeker
Networks and Markets Relational contracting (Macaulay from lecture) =
working agreements between firms sustained by interpersonal trust and experience with one another rather than written contracts.
Amir Goldberg's "standing out and fitting in"
you can stand out (be culturally different from your peers) if you fit in (don't have too much structural autonomy); and you benefit from structural autonomy, but shouldn't stand out too much (so people trust you). • If you were high on autonomy (low on constraint) and high on cultural fit, you did really well - you fit in well enough that people trusted you to use your structural autonomy for the common good. • If you were low on cultural fit, you had to be structurally constrained - highly embedded in close-tie networks - so that people would tolerate your transgressive style. • People who had lots of structural autonomy but were cultural misfits did badly because they weren't trusted. • People who had low autonomy and high cultural fit did poorly, because they had little to offer.
Granovetter's classic study - To what job markets can his results be generalized?
❑Managerial, professional and sales or service positions ❑In small businesses that can't afford intensive search ❑Where applicant quality cannot be easily observed ❑Where training costs are high, so companies want to minimize turnover. ❑In lower-level jobs where a really bad performance can make a big difference, but an above average performance is not so important ❑Where skill requirements are either low or hard to measure ❑Private as compared to government organizations ❑When there are more jobs than there are workers