Showing papers on "Social network published in 2006"

Group formation in large social networks: membership, growth, and evolution

Abstract: The processes by which communities come together, attract new members, and develop over time is a central research issue in the social sciences - political movements, professional organizations, and religious denominations all provide fundamental examples of such communities. In the digital domain, on-line groups are becoming increasingly prominent due to the growth of community and social networking sites such as MySpace and LiveJournal. However, the challenge of collecting and analyzing large-scale time-resolved data on social groups and communities has left most basic questions about the evolution of such groups largely unresolved: what are the structural features that influence whether individuals will join communities, which communities will grow rapidly, and how do the overlaps among pairs of communities change over time.Here we address these questions using two large sources of data: friendship links and community membership on LiveJournal, and co-authorship and conference publications in DBLP. Both of these datasets provide explicit user-defined communities, where conferences serve as proxies for communities in DBLP. We study how the evolution of these communities relates to properties such as the structure of the underlying social networks. We find that the propensity of individuals to join communities, and of communities to grow rapidly, depends in subtle ways on the underlying network structure. For example, the tendency of an individual to join a community is influenced not just by the number of friends he or she has within the community, but also crucially by how those friends are connected to one another. We use decision-tree techniques to identify the most significant structural determinants of these properties. We also develop a novel methodology for measuring movement of individuals between communities, and show how such movements are closely aligned with changes in the topics of interest within the communities.

Imagined communities: awareness, information sharing, and privacy on the facebook

Abstract: Online social networks such as Friendster, MySpace, or the Facebook have experienced exponential growth in membership in recent years. These networks offer attractive means for interaction and communication, but also raise privacy and security concerns. In this study we survey a representative sample of the members of the Facebook (a social network for colleges and high schools) at a US academic institution, and compare the survey data to information retrieved from the network itself. We look for underlying demographic or behavioral differences between the communities of the network's members and non-members; we analyze the impact of privacy concerns on members' behavior; we compare members' stated attitudes with actual behavior; and we document the changes in behavior subsequent to privacy-related information exposure. We find that an individual's privacy concerns are only a weak predictor of his membership to the network. Also privacy concerned individuals join the network and reveal great amounts of personal information. Some manage their privacy concerns by trusting their ability to control the information they provide and the external access to it. However, we also find evidence of members' misconceptions about the online community's actual size and composition, and about the visibility of members' profiles.

Empirical Analysis of an Evolving Social Network

Abstract: Social networks evolve over time, driven by the shared activities and affiliations of their members, by similarity of individuals' attributes, and by the closure of short network cycles. We analyzed a dynamic social network comprising 43,553 students, faculty, and staff at a large university, in which interactions between individuals are inferred from time-stamped e-mail headers recorded over one academic year and are matched with affiliations and attributes. We found that network evolution is dominated by a combination of effects arising from network topology itself and the organizational structure in which the network is embedded. In the absence of global perturbations, average network properties appear to approach an equilibrium state, whereas individual properties are unstable.

Social Yet Creative: The Role Of Social Relationships In Facilitating Individual Creativity

Abstract: Integrating creativity and social network theories, I explore the direct and interactive effects of relationship strength, network position, and external ties on individual creative contributions. ...

Performance of an Abbreviated Version of the Lubben Social Network Scale Among Three European Community-Dwelling Older Adult Populations

Abstract: PURPOSE: There is a need for valid and reliable short scales that can be used to assess social networks and social supports and to screen for social isolation in older persons. DESIGN AND METHODS: The present study is a cross-national and cross-cultural evaluation of the performance of an abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6), which was used to screen for social isolation among community-dwelling older adult populations in three European countries. Based on the concept of lack of redundancy of social ties we defined clinical cut-points of the LSNS-6 for identifying persons deemed at risk for social isolation. RESULTS: Among all three samples, the LSNS-6 and two subscales (Family and Friends) demonstrated high levels of internal consistency, stable factor structures, and high correlations with criterion variables. The proposed clinical cut-points showed good convergent validity, and classified 20% of the respondents in Hamburg, 11% of those in Solothurn (Switzerland), and 15% of those in London as at risk for social isolation. IMPLICATIONS: We conclude that abbreviated scales such as the LSNS-6 should be considered for inclusion in practice protocols of gerontological practitioners. Screening older persons based on the LSNS-6 provides quantitative information on their family and friendship ties, and identifies persons at increased risk for social isolation who might benefit from in-depth assessment and targeted interventions.

Studying Online Social Networks

Abstract: When a computer network connects people or organizations, it is a social network. Yet the study of such computer-supported social networks has not received as much attention as studies of human-computer interaction, online person-to-person interaction, and computer-supported communication within small groups. We argue the usefulness of a social network approach for the study of computer-mediated communication. We review some basic concepts of social network analysis, describe how to collect and analyze social network data, and demonstrate where social network data can be, and have been, used to study computer-mediated communication. Throughout, we show the utility of the social network approach for studying computer-mediated communication, be it in computer-supported cooperative work, in virtual community, or in more diffuse interactions over less bounded systems such as the Internet.

Structure and evolution of online social networks

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the evolution of structure within large online social networks. We present a series of measurements of two such networks, together comprising in excess of five million people and ten million friendship links, annotated with metadata capturing the time of every event in the life of the network. Our measurements expose a surprising segmentation of these networks into three regions: singletons who do not participate in the network; isolated communities which overwhelmingly display star structure; and a giant component anchored by a well-connected core region which persists even in the absence of stars.We present a simple model of network growth which captures these aspects of component structure. The model follows our experimental results, characterizing users as either passive members of the network; inviters who encourage offline friends and acquaintances to migrate online; and linkers who fully participate in the social evolution of the network.

More than Network Structure: How Knowledge Heterogeneity Influences Managerial Performance and Innovativeness

Abstract: This study deals with individual managerial performance, both overall and in generating innovation. While prior work has demonstrated a relationship between network structure and managerial performance, inadequate attention has been paid to network content. We consider several micro-social processes that might account for differences in managerial performance, taken from economic sociology and studies of managers' exploitation of their social networks and derived from work in psychology on the genesis of ideas. We compare the influence of these mechanisms on managerial performance using a sample of 106 middle managers in a European telecommunications company. Our findings suggest that while network structure matters, access to heterogeneous knowledge is of equal importance for overall managerial performance and of greater importance for innovation performance.

Ties, leaders, and time in teams: strong inference about network structure's effects on team viability and performance

Abstract: How do members’ and leaders’ social network structures help or hinder team effectiveness? A meta-analysis of 37 studies of teams in natural contexts suggests that teams with densely configured inte...

Friends, Friendsters, and Top 8: Writing community into being on social network sites

Abstract: “Are you my friend? Yes or no?” This question, while fundamentally odd, is a key component of social network sites. Participants must select who on the system they deem to be ‘Friends.’ Their choice is publicly displayed for all to see and becomes the backbone for networked participation. By examining what different participants groups do on social network sites, this paper investigates what Friendship means and how Friendship affects the culture of the sites. I will argue that Friendship helps people write community into being in social network sites. Through these imagined egocentric communities, participants are able to express who they are and locate themselves culturally. In turn, this provides individuals with a contextual frame through which they can properly socialize with other participants. Friending is deeply affected by both social processes and technological affordances. I will argue that the established Friending norms evolved out of a need to resolve the social tensions that emerged due to technological limitations. At the same time, I will argue that Friending supports pre-existing social norms yet because the architecture of social network sites is fundamentally different than the architecture of unmediated social spaces, these sites introduce an environment that is quite unlike that with which we are accustomed.

Co-authorship in management and organizational studies: an empirical and network analysis

Abstract: In recent decades there has been growing interest in the nature and scale of scientific collaboration. Studies into co-authorship have taken two different approaches. The first one attempts to analyse the reasons why authors collaborate and the consequences of such decision (Laband and Tollison, 2000). The second approach is based on the idea that co-authorship creates a social network of researchers (Barabasi et al., 2002; Moody, 2004; Newman, 2001). In this study we have carried out an exploratory analysis of co-authorships in the field of management from the two aforementioned approaches. The results obtained show a growing tendency of the co-authored papers in the field of management, similar to what can be observed in other disciplines. Our study analyses some of the underpinning factors, which have been highlighted in the literature, explaining this tendency. Thus, the progressive quantitative character of research and the influence of the collaboration on the articles' impact are enhanced. The network analysis permits the exploration of the peculiarities of the management in comparison with other fields of knowledge, as well as the existing linkages between the most central and prominent authors within this discipline.

The ties that lead: A social network approach to leadership (DOI:10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.09.004)

Abstract: This article investigates, for leadership research, the implications of new directions in social network theory that emphasize networks as both cognitive structures in the minds of organizational members and opportunity structures that facilitate and constrain action. We introduce the four core ideas at the heart of the network research program: the importance of relations, actors' embeddedness, the social utility of connections, and the structural patterning of social life. Then we present a theoretical model of how network cognitions in the minds of leaders affect three types of networks: the direct ties surrounding leaders, the pattern of direct and indirect ties within which leaders are embedded in the whole organization and the interorganizational linkages formed by leaders as representatives of organizations. We suggest that these patterns of ties can contribute to leader effectiveness. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Multilevel Model of Group Social Capital

Abstract: We introduce the concept of group social capital—the set of resources made available to a group through members' social relationships within the social structure of the group and in the broader formal and informal structure of the organization. We argue that greater group social capital resources lead to greater group effectiveness and that there are many different conduits through which group social capital resources flow. We present a multilevel, multidimensional model arguing that an optimal balance of all these conduits maximizes group social capital resources and group effectiveness.

Trust-building, Knowledge Generation and Organizational Innovations: The Role of a Bridging Organization for Adaptive Comanagement of a Wetland Landscape around Kristianstad, Sweden

Abstract: The literature on ecosystem management and assessment is increasingly focusing on social capacity to enhance ecosystem resilience. Organizational flexibility, participatory approaches to learning, and knowledge generation for responding adequately to environmental change have been highlighted but not critically assessed. The small, flexible municipal organization, Ecomuseum Kristianstads Vattenrike (EKV) in southern Sweden, has identified win-win situations and gained broad support and legitimacy for ecosystem management among a diversity of actors in the region. Navigating the existing legal-political framework, EKV has built a loose social network of local stewards and key persons from organizations at municipal and higher societal levels. As a ‘bridging organization’, EKV has created arenas for trust-building, knowledge generation, collaborative learning, preference formation, and conflicts solving among actors in relation to specific environmental issues. Ad hoc projects are developed as issues arise by mobilizing individuals from the social network. Our results suggest that the EKV approach to adaptive comanagement has enhanced the social capacity to respond to unpredictable change and developed a trajectory towards resilience of a desirable social-ecological system.

Generating a feed of stories personalized for members of a social network

Abstract: Systems and methods for generating dynamic relationship-based content personalized for members of a web-based social network are provided. At least one action of one or more members of a web-based social network is associated with relationship data for the one or more members to produce consolidated data. One or more elements associated with the consolidated data is identified and used to aggregate the consolidated data. Further exemplary methods comprise weighting by affinity the aggregated consolidated data to generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for the members of the web-based social network.

Trust Networks on the Semantic Web

Abstract: The so-called “Web of Trust” is one of the ultimate goals of the Semantic Web. Research on the topic of trust in this domain has focused largely on digital signatures, certificates, and authentication. At the same time, there is a wealth of research into trust and social networks in the physical world. In this paper, we describe an approach for integrating the two to build a web of trust in a more social respect. This paper describes the applicability of social network analysis to the semantic web, particularly discussing the multi-dimensional networks that evolve from ontological trust specifications. As a demonstration of algorithms used to infer trust relationships, we present several tools that allow users to take advantage of trust metrics that use the network.

The Social Network Ties of Group Leaders: Implications for Group Performance and Leader Reputation

Abstract: This paper uses data from the sales division of a financial services firm to investigate how a leader's centrality in external and internal social networks is related to the objective performance of the leader's group, and to the leader's personal reputation for leadership among subordinates, peers, and supervisors. External social network ties were based on the friendship ties among all 88 of the division's sales group leaders and the 10 high-ranking supervisors to whom they reported. Internal social network ties consisted of 28 separate networks, each representing the set of friendship relations among all members of a given sales group. Objective group performance data came directly from company records. Data on each group leader's personal reputation for leadership was based on the perceptions of three different constituencies: subordinates, peers, and supervisors. Results revealed that leaders' centrality in external and internal friendship networks was related both to objective measures of group performance and to their reputation for leadership among different organizational constituencies.

Advertising and incentives over a social network

Abstract: A method whereby advertisers wish to deliver at least one of offerings and advertising messages relative to at least one of a product and a service to a target audience of users selected by a system operator during an advertising campaign. The method includes defining the users within the context of a social network, selecting the users from among the users of the social network, storing the information relevant to the defined users and utilizing the information stored/defined within the social network to deliver the messages to the users in an optimal manner.

How Cultural Tastes Shape Personal Networks

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between different forms of cultural taste and the density of social contacts across alternative types of network relations classified by average tie strength. The author builds on Bourdieu's ([1986] 2001) classic statement on the “forms of capital” (economic, social, and cultural) and the conversion dynamics among them, and on DiMaggio's (1987) connection between cultural tastes and sociability. He hypothesizes that (1) in addition to cultural tastes being determined by network relations, cultural tastes are used to form and sustain those networks. Furthermore he expects that (2) highbrow culture taste will be less likely to be converted into social capital beyond immediate strong-tie circles due to its more restricted, “assetspecific” nature. Because of its generalized appeal, taste for popular culture will be more likely to be associated with weak-tie network density. The results broadly support these hypotheses: a model that specifies an effect of culture on netwo...

Estimating the Causal Effect of Social Capital: A Review of Recent Research

Abstract: Although there is a large literature on social capital, empirical estimates of the effect of social capital may be biased because of social homophily, the tendency of similar people to become friends with each other. Despite the methodological difficulties, a recent literature has emerged across several different disciplines that tries to estimate the causal effect of social capital. This paper reviews this recent empirical literature on social capital, paying close attention to the statistical and theoretical assumptions involved. Overall, there is evidence that genuine progress has been made in estimating the effect of social capital. The reviewed articles should provide useful examples for future research.

Generating predictive movie recommendations from trust in social networks

Abstract: Social networks are growing in number and size, with hundreds of millions of user accounts among them. One added benefit of these networks is that they allow users to encode more information about their relationships than just stating who they know. In this work, we are particularly interested in trust relationships, and how they can be used in designing interfaces. In this paper, we present FilmTrust, a website that uses trust in web-based social networks to create predictive movie recommendations. Using the FilmTrust system as a foundation, we show that these recommendations are more accurate than other techniques when the user's opinions about a film are divergent from the average. We discuss this technique both as an application of social network analysis, as well as how it suggests other analyses that can be performed to help improve collaborative filtering algorithms of all types.

WHAT you know is WHO you know? Communication patterns among resource users as a prerequisite for co-management

Abstract: The social networks is one factor determining the flow of information within communities and as such may be important in determining successful implementation of community based management. We mapped the social network used for communication of knowledge and information related to natural resource extraction among villagers in a coastal seascape in Kenya. We further identified subgroups and examined their interrelations while measuring to what extent personal attributes such as occupation can explain observed group structure. Finally, we compared the local ecological knowledge held by villagers of different occupations with the structure of the communication network to map how well this structure can explain distribution of ecological knowledge among them. Results show that communication occurs primarily between fishermen who use the same gear type, which may inhibit exchange of ecological knowledge within the community. This may partly explain why the community has been unsuccessful in regulating resource extraction, especially since potentially influential groups of nonfishermen have a limited communication with the various fisher groups. Analysis of network structure also shows that groups most central, and hence potentially most influential, are dominated in numbers by migrant deep sea fishermen, hypothetically less motivated to initiate collective action for resource management. Hence, we conclude that a lack of collective action to remedy an unsustainable situation may be attributed to various different but distinct aspects of the specific structure of the social network.

Inferring binary trust relationships in Web-based social networks

Abstract: The growth of Web-based social networking and the properties of those networks have created great potential for producing intelligent software that integrates a user's social network and preferences. Our research looks particularly at assigning trust in Web-based social networks and investigates how trust information can be mined and integrated into applications. This article introduces a definition of trust suitable for use in Web-based social networks with a discussion of the properties that will influence its use in computation. We then present two algorithms for inferring trust relationships between individuals that are not directly connected in the network. Both algorithms are shown theoretically and through simulation to produce calculated trust values that are highly accurate.. We then present TrustMail, a prototype email client that uses variations on these algorithms to score email messages in the user's inbox based on the user's participation and ratings in a trust network.

Relational correlates of interpersonal citizenship behavior: a social network perspective.

Abstract: This study examines the role of social network ties in the performance and receipt of interpersonal citizenship behavior (ICB), one form of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). A field study involving 141 employees of a manufacturing firm provided evidence that social network ties are related to the performance and receipt of ICB. Results support hypothesized relationships, which are based on social exchange theory, suggesting strength of friendship is related to performance and receipt of ICB. Support was also found for impression management-based hypotheses suggesting that asymmetric influence and 3rd-party influence are related to the performance and receipt of ICB. These relationships were significant when controlling for job satisfaction, commitment, procedural justice, hierarchical level, demographic similarity, and job similarity. Implications and directions for future research are addressed.

IT to support knowledge sharing in communities, towards a social capital analysis

Abstract: Ignoring the informal, non-canonical nature of knowledge sharing, including people's motivation, ability and opportunity to share knowledge, is one of the key causes of resistance to use knowledge-sharing tools. In order to improve knowledge sharing supported by information technology (IT), tools need to be embedded in the social networks of which it is part. This has implications for our knowledge on the design requirements of such socially embedded IT. The paper reviews tools that are designed for the purpose to foster social capital. We will then discuss what is needed for an IS design theory related to knowledge communities and how such a theory could incorporate social capital theory.