A Non-Technical Introduction to Social Network Analysis Barry Wellman

1
A Non-Technical Introduction to Social Network
AnalysisBarry Wellman
Networks For Newbies

• Founder, International Network For Social
  Network Analysis
• Centre for Urban Community Studies University
  of Toronto Toronto, Canada M5S
  1A1 wellman_at_chass.utoronto.cawww.chass.utoronto.
  ca/wellman

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NetLab
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Three Ways to Look at Reality

• Categories
• All Possess One or More Properties as an
  Aggregate of Individuals
• Examples Men, Developed Countries
• Groups
• (Almost) All Densely-Knit Within Tight Boundary
• Thought of as a Solidary Unit (Really a Special
  Network)
• Family, Workgroup, Community
• Networks
• Set of Connected Units People, Organizations,
  Networks
• Can Belong to Multiple Networks
• Examples Friendship, Organizational,
  Inter-Organizational, World-System, Internet

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Nodes, Relationships Ties

• Nodes A Unit That Possibly is Connected
• Individuals, Households, Workgroups,Organizations,
  States
• Relationships (A Specific Type of Connection) A
  Role Relationship
• Gives Emotional Support
• Sends Money To
• Attacks
• Ties (One or More Relationships)
• Friendship (with possibly many relationships)
• Affiliations (Person Organization)
• Works for IBM INSNA Member Football Team
• One-Mode, Two-Mode Networks

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A Network is More Than The Sum of Its Ties

• A Network Consists of One or More Nodes
• Could be Persons, Organizations, Groups, Nations
• Connected by One or More Ties
• Could be One or More Relationships
• That Form Distinct, Analyzable Patterns
• Can Study Patterns of Relationships OR Ties
• Emergent Properties (Simmel vs. Homans)

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In a Sentence

• To Discover How A, Who is in Touch with B and C,
  Is Affected by the Relation Between B C
• John Barnes

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2 Minute History of Sunbelt Conference

• Informal conferences in mid-late 1970s
• Toronto (1974) Hawaii
• Formalized as Sunbelt 1981 annual
• Why Sunbelt?
• Normal Rotation SE US, US West, Europe
• Slovenia (2004) Charleston (Feb 2005),
  Vancouver?
• Always Informal, But Serious Work

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10 Minute History of INSNA

• Founded by Barry Wellman in 1976-1977
• Sabbatical Travel Carried Tales
• Nick Mullins Every Theory Group Has an
  Organizational Leader
• Owned by Wellman until 1988 as small business
• Subsequent Coordinators/Presidents
• Al Wolfe, Steve Borgatti, Martin Everett
• Steering Committee
• Non-Profit Constitution under Borgatti
  Coordinator gt President
• Bill Richards President, 2003-
• Scott Feld VP Katie Faust Treasurer Frans
  Stokman, Euro. Rep.
• Our First Real Election
• Grown from 175 to 400 Members
• Many More on Listserv (Not Limited to Members)
• Steve Borgatti maintains unmoderated
• Website www.insna.sfu.ca -- being upgraded

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10 Minute Overview - Journals

• Wellman founded,edited,published Connections,
  1977
• Informal journal Useful articles, news,
  gossip, grants, abstracts, book summaries
• Bill Richards, Tom Valente edit now
• Lin Freeman founded, edits Social Networks, 1978?
• Formal journal Refereed articles
• Ronald Breiger now co-editor
• David Krackhardt founded, edits J of Social
  Structure, 2000?
• Online, Refereed
• Lots of visuals
• Articles Appear Occasionally when their time has
  come

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10 Minute Overview Key Books

• Elizabeth Bott, Family Social Network, 1957
• J. Clyde Mitchell, Networks, Norms
  Institutions, 1973
• Holland Leinhardt, Perspectives on Social
  Network Research,1979s
• S. D. Berkowitz, An Introduction to Structural
  Analysis, 1982
• Knoke Kuklinski, Network Analysis, 1983, Sage,
  low-cost
• Charles Tilly, Big Structures, Large Processes,
  Huge Comparisons, 1984
• Wellman Berkowitz, eds., Social Structures,
  1988
• David Knoke, Political Networks, 1990
• John Scott, Social Network Analysis, 1991
• Ron Burt, Structural Holes, 1992
• Manuel Castells, The Rise of Network Society,
  1996, 2000
• Wasserman Faust, Social Network Analysis, 1992
• Nan Lin, Social Capital (monograph reader),
  2001

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10 Minute Overview Software

1. UCINet Whole Network Analysis
2. Lin Freeman, Steve Borgatti, Martin Everett
3. MultiNet Whole Network Analysis
4. Nodal Characteristics
5. Structure Ron Burt Not Maintained
6. PStar Dyadic Analysis Stan Wasserman
7. Krackplot Network Visualization (Obsolete)
8. David Krackhardt, Jim Blythe
9. Pajek Network Visualization Supersedes
   Krackplot
10. Slovenia
11. Personal Network Analysis
12. SPSS/SAS See Wellman, et al. How To papers

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10 Minute Overview Data Basis

• Small Group Sociometry1930s gt (Moreno,
  Bonacich, Cook)
• Finding People Who Enjoy Working Together
• Evolved into Exchange Theory, Small Group Studies
• Ethnographic Studies, 1950s gt (Mitchell, Barnes)
• Does Modernization gt Disconnection?
• Survey Research Personal Networks, 1970s gt
• Community, Support Social Capital, Guanxi
• Mathematics Simulation, 1970s gt (Freeman,
  White)
• Formalist / Methods Substantive Analysis
• Survey Archival Research, Whole Nets, 1970s gt
• Organizational, Inter-Organizational,
  Inter-National Analyses
• Political Structures, 1970s gt (Tilly,
  Wallerstein)
• Social Movements, Mobilization (anti Alienation)
• World Systems (asymmetric structure gt
  Globalization)
• Computer Networks as Social Networks, late 1990s
  gt (Sack)
• Automated Data Collection

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The Multiple Ways of Network Analysis

• Method The Most Visible Manifestation
• Misleading to Confuse Appearance with Reality
• Data Gathering see previous slide
• Theory Pattern Matters
• Substance
• Community, Organizational, Inter-Organizational,
  Terrorist, World System
• An Add-On
• Add a Few Network Measures to a Study
• Integrated Approach
• A Way of Looking at the World
• Theory, Data Collection, Data Analysis,
  Substantive Analysis
• Not Actor-Network Theory
• Links to Structural Analyses in Other Disciplines

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The Social Network Approach

• The world is composed of networks - not
  densely-knit, tightly-bounded groups
• Networks provide flexible means of social
  organization and of thinking about social
  organization
• Networks have emergent properties of structure
  and composition
• Networks are a major source of social capital
  mobilizable in themselves and from their contents
• Networks are self-shaping and reflexive
• Networks scale up to networks of networks

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The Social Network Approach

• Moving from a hierarchical society bound up in
  little boxes to a network and networking
  society
• Multiple communities / work networks
• Multiplicity of specialized relations
• Management by networks
• More alienation, more maneuverability
• Loosely-coupled organizations / societies
• Less centralized
• The networked society

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Changing ConnectivityGroups to Networks

• Densely Knit gt Sparsely-Knit
• Impermeable (Bounded) gt Permeable
• Broadly-Based Solidarity gt Specialized Multiple
  Foci

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Networked Individualism

• Moving from a society bound up in little boxes to
  a multiple network and networking society
• Networks are a flexible means of social
  organization
• Networks are a major source of social capital
  mobilizable in themselves from their contents
• Networks link
• Persons
• Within organizations
• Between organizations and institutions

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Little Boxes ? Ramified Networks

• Each in its Place ? Mobility of People and
  Goods
• United Family ? Serial Marriage, Mixed Custody
• Shared Community ? Multiple, Partial Personal
  Nets
• Neighborhoods ? Dispersed Networks
• Voluntary Organizations ? Informal Leisure
• Face-to-Face ? Computer-Mediated
  Communication
• Public Spaces ? Private Spaces
• Focused Work Unit ? Networked Organizations
• Job in a Company ? Career in a Profession
• Autarky ? Outsourcing
• Office, Factory ? Airplane, Internet,
  Cellphone
• Ascription ? Achievement
• Hierarchies ? Matrix Management
• Conglomerates ? Virtual Organizations/Alliances
  
• Cold War Blocs ? Fluid, Transitory Alliances

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Little Boxes
Glocalization
Networked Individualism
Barry Wellman co-editor Social Structure A
Network ApproachJAI-Elsevier Press 1998
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Ways of Looking at Networks

• Whole Networks Personal Networks
• Focus on the System or on the Set of Individuals
• Graphs Matrices
• We dream in graphs
• We analyze in matrices

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Whole Social Networks

• Comprehensive Set of Role Relationships in an
  Entire Social System
• Analyze Each Role Relationship Can Combine
• Composition Women Heterogeneity Weak Ties
• Structure Pattern of Ties
• Village, Organization, Kinship, Enclaves,
  World-System
• Copernican Airplane View
• Typical Methods Cliques, Blocks, Centrality,
  Flows
• Examples (1) What is the Real Structure of an
  Organization?
• (2) How Does Information Flow Through a Village?

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Cumulative GlobeNet Intercitation Through 2000
Howard White Barry Wellman, 2003 Does
Citation Reflect Social Structure
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Strongest Globenet Co-Citation, Intercitation
Links Thru 2000
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Duality of Persons Groups

• People Link Groups
• Groups Link People
• An Interpersonal Net is an Interorganizational
  Net
• Ronald Breiger 1973

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The Dualities of Persons and Groups -- Graphs
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Dualities of Persons and Groups -- Matrices
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Dualities of Persons and Groups Event-Event
Matrix
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Neat Whole Network Methods

• QAP
• Regression of Matrices
• Example Co-Citation (Intellectual Tie)
• Predicts Better than Friendship (Social Tie)
• To Inter-Citation
• Clustering High Density Tight Boundaries
  (Groups)
• Block Modeling
• Similar Role Relationships, Not Necessarily
  Clusters
• Canada Mexico in Same Block US Dominated

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Erickson, 1988 From a Matrix gt . . .
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. . . To a Block Model
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Costs of Whole Network Analysis

• Requires a Roster of Entire Population
• Requires (Imposition of) a Social Boundary
• This May Assume What You Want to Find
• Hard to Handle Missing Data
• Needs Special Analytic Packages
• Becoming Easier to Use

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Personal Social Networks

• Ptolemaic Ego-Centered View
• Good for Unbounded Networks
• Often Uses Survey Research
• Example (1) Do Densely-Knit Networks Provide
  More Support? (structure)
• (2) Do More Central People Get More Support?
• (network)
• (2) Do Women Provide More Support? (composition)
• (3) Do Face-to-Face Ties Provide More Support
  Than Internet Ties? (relational)
• (4) Are People More Isolated Now? (ego)

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Costs of Personal Network Studies

• Concentrates on Strong Ties
• Collecting Proper Data in Survey Takes Much Time
• Ignores Ecological Juxtapositions
• Hard to Aggregate from Personal Network to Whole
  Network
• Easier to Decompose Whole Network
• (Haythornthwaite Wellman)
• Often Relies on Respondents Reports

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Social Network Analysis More Flavors

• Diffusion of Information ( Viruses)
• Flows Through Systems
• Organizational Analyses
• Real Organization
• Knowledge Acquisition Management
• Inter-Organizational Analysis
• Is There a Ruling Elite
• Strategies, Deals
• Networking How People Network
• As a Strategy
• Unconscious Behavior
• Are There Networking Personality Types?

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SNA Branching Out

• Social Movements
• World-Systems Analyses
• Cognitive Networks
• Citation Networks
• Co-Citation
• Inter-Citation
• Applied Networks
• Terrorist Networks
• Corruption Networks

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Multilevel AnalysisNew Approach to an Old
Problem

• Switching and Combining Levels
• Individual Agency, Dyadic Dancing, Network
  Facilitation Emergent Properties
• Consider Wider Range of Theories
• Disentangles ( Avoids Nagging Confounding)
• Tie Effects
• Network Effects
• Contingent (Cross-Level) Effects
• Interactions
• Addresses Emergent Properties
• Fundamental Sociological Issue
• Simmel vs. Homans

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Multilevel Analysis Tie Effects

• Tie Strength Stronger is More Supportive
• Workmates Provide More Everyday Support
• (Multilevel Discovered This)

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Multilevel Analysis Network Effects

• Network Size
• Not Only More Support from Entire Network
• More Probability of Support from Each Network
  Member
• Mutual Ties (Reciprocity)
• Those Who Have More Ties with Network Members
  Provide More Support
• Cross-Level Effect Stronger (and Attenuates)
• Dyadic (Tie-Level) Effect
• Its Contribution to the Network, Not the Alter

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Multilevel AnalysisCross-Level, Interaction
Effects

• Kinship
• No longer a solidary system
• Parent-(Adult) Child Interaction
• More Support From Each When gt 1 Parent-Child Tie
• Single P-C Tie 34
• 2 P-C Ties, Probability of Support from Each 54

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Multilevel Interactions-- Accessibility

• 37 of Moderately Accessible Ties
• Provide Everyday Support
• But If Overall Network Is
• Moderately Supportive,
• 54 of All Network Members
• Provide Everyday Support
• Women More Supportive
• In Nets with More Women

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The Internet in Everyday Life

• Computer Networks as Social Networks
• Key Questions
• Community On and Off line
• Networked Life before the Internet
• Netville The Wired Suburb
• Large Web Surveys National Geographic
• Work On and Off line
• Towards Networked Individualism, or
• The Retreat to Little Boxes

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Social Affordances of New Forms of
Computer-Mediated Connectivity

• Bandwidth
• Ubiquity Anywhere, Anytime
• Convergence Any Media Accesses All
• Portability Especially Wireless
• Globalized Connectivity
• Personalization

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Research Questions

1. Ties Does the Internet support all types of
   ties?
2. Weak and Strong?
3. Instrumental and Socio-Emotional?
4. Online-Only or Using Internet Other Media (F2F,
   Phone)?
5. Social Capital Has the Internet increased,
   decreased, or multiplied contact at work, in
   society?
6. Interpersonally Locally
7. Interpersonally Long Distance
8. Organizationally
9. GloCalization Has the map of the world dissolved
   so much that distance does not matter? Has the
   Internet brought spatial and social peripheries
   closer to the center?

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Research Questions (contd)

• Structure Does the Internet facilitate working
  in loosely-coupled networks rather than dense,
  tight groups?
• Knowledge Management How do people find and
  acquire usable knowledge in networked and virtual
  organizations

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Guiding Research Principles

• Substitute systematic data analysis for hype
• Do field studies, not lab experiments
• Combine statistical with observational info.
• Study the use of each media in larger context
• Work with other disciplines
• Analyze Existing Uses
• Develop New Uses

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Studies of Community On and Off-Line

• Pre-Internet Networked Communities
• Netville The Wired Suburb
• National Geographic Web Survey
• 1998, 2001
• Other Internet Community Studies
• Barry Wellman, The Network Community
• Introduction to Networks in the
  Global Village
• Westview Press, 1999

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Source Dan Heap Parliamentary Campaign 1992 (NDP)
Toronto in the Continental Division of Labor
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Physical Place and Cyber Place

• Door to Door, Place to Place,
• Person to Person, Role to Role
• Barry Wellman, Changing Connectivity A Future
  History of Y2.03K. Sociological Research Online
  4, 4, February 2000 http//www.socresonline.org.u
  k/4/wellman.html
• Barry Wellman, Physical Place and Cyber Place
  The Rise of Networked Individualism.
  International Journal of Urban and Regional
  Research 25 (2001) June.

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Door To Door

• Old Workgroups/ Communities Based on
  Propinquity, Kinship
• Pre-Industrial Villages, Wandering Bands
• All Observe and Interact with All
• Deal with Only One Group
• Knowledge Comes Only From Within the Group and
  Stays Within the Group

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Place To Place

• (Phones, Networked PCs, Airplanes, Expressways,
  RR, Transit)
• Home, Office Important Contexts,
• Not Intervening Space
• Ramified Sparsely Knit Not Local Solidarities
• Not neighborhood-based
• Not densely-knit with a group feeling
• Partial Membership in Multiple Workgroups/
  Communities
• Often Based on Shared Interest
• Connectivity Beyond Neighborhood, Work Site
• Household to Household /
• Work Group to Work Group
• Domestication, Feminization of Community
• Deal with Multiple Groups
• Knowledge Comes From Internal External Sources
• Glocalization Globally Connected, Locally
  Invested

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Person To Person

• (Cell Phones, Wireless Computing)
• Little Awareness of Context
• Individual, Not Household or Work Group
• Personalized Networking
• Tailored Media Interactions
• Private Desires Replace Public Civility
• Less Caring for Strangers, Fewer Weak Ties
• Online Interactions Linked with Offline
• Dissolution of the Internal All Knowledge is
  External

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Role To Role

• Tailored Communication Media
• Little Awareness of Whole Person
• Portfolios of Specialized Relationships
• Boutiques, not Variety Stores
• Cycling among Specialized
• Communities / Work Groups
• Role-Based Media Interactions
• Management by Network

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Netville The Wired Suburb

• Leading-Edge Development Exurban Toronto
• Mid-Priced, Detached Tract Homes
• Bell Canada, etc. Field Trial
• 10Mb/sec, ATM-Based, No-Cost Internet Services
• Ethnographic Fieldwork
• Hampton Lived There for 2 Years
• Survey Research
• Wants, Networks, Activities

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The entrance to Netville
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View of Netville
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Wired and Non-Wired Neighboring in Netville
 
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Neighboring Ties

• Wired Residents
• Recognize More
• Talk with More
• Invite More Into their Homes
• And are Invited by Them
• Neighbor in a Wider Area

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Long-Distance Ties (gt50 km/30 mi )

• Compared to one year before moving to Netville,
• Wired Residents Have More Than Non-Wired
• Social Contact especially over 500 km
• Help Given (e.g., childcare, home repair)
• Help Received from Friends and Relatives
• Especially between 50 and 500 km

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Long-Distance Ties

• Wired Residents Say the Internet
• Makes it Easier to Communicate
• Fosters Greater Volume of Communication
• Introduces New Modes of Communication
• Acquire More Diverse Knowledge

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Netville The Wired Suburb

• With Keith Hampton (MIT)
• Netville Online and Offline Observing and
  Surveying a Wired Suburb. American Behavioral
  Scientist 43, 3 (Nov 1999) 475-92.
• Examining Community in the Digital Neighborhood
  Pp. 475-92 in Digital Cities Technologies,
  Experiences and Future Perspectives, edited by
  Toru Ishida and Katherine Isbister. Berlin
  Springer-Verlag, 2000.
• Long Distance Community in the Network Society
  American Behavioral Scientist, 45 (Nov 2001)
  477-97
• How the Internet Builds Local Community. City
  and Community, 2001

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National Geographic Survey 2000 and Survey 2001

• Survey 2000 -- Fall 1998
• 35,000 Americans
• 5,000 Canadians
• 15,000 Others
• Survey 2001 -- Fall 2001, N gt 6,000

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Survey 2000 Research Questions

• Are There Systematic Social Variations in Who
  Uses the Internet for What?
• Does the Internet Multiply, Add To, or Decrease
  Interpersonal Ties?
• Does the Internet Multiply, Add To, or Decrease
  Organizational Involvement?
• Does the Internet Increase, Decrease or Transform
  Community Commitment?
• Does the Internet Increase Knowledge?
• Are There Variations by National Context?

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Computer Supported Cooperative Work

• Fishbowls and Switchboards
• Media Use and Choice
• Cerise
• Indigo
• Networked Scholarly Organizations
• Technet
• Globenet
• Teleworking The Home-Work Nexus

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The Fishbowl Group Office
Door-to-Door

• All Work Together in Same Room
• All Visible to Each Another
• All have Physical Access to Each Other
• All can see when a Person is Interruptible
• All can see when One Person is with Another
• No Real Secrets
• No Secret Meetings
• Anyone can Observe Conversations Decide to Join
• Little Alert to Others Approaching

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• Neighbors have Hi Visual Aural Awareness
• Limited Number of Participants
• Densely-Knit (most directly connected)
• Tightly Bounded (most interactions within group)
• Frequent Contact
• Recurrent Interactions
• Long-Duration Ties
• Cooperate for Clear, Collective purposes
• Sense of Group Solidarity (name, collective
  identity)
• Social Control by Supervisor Group

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The Switchboard Network OfficePerson-to-Person

• Each Works Separately
• Office Doors Closable for Privacy
• Glass in Doors Indicate Interruptibility
• If Doors Locked, Must Knock
• If Doors Open, Request Admission
• Difficult to learn if Person is Dealing with
  Others Unless Door is Open
• Large Number of Potential Interactors
• Average Person knows gt 1,000
• Strangers Friends of Friends May also be
  Contacted

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• Sparsely-Knit
• Most Dont Know Each Other
• Or Not Aware of Mutual Contact
• No Detailed Knowledge of Indirect Ties
• Loosely-Bounded
• Many Different People Contacted
• Many Different Workplaces
• Can Link with Outside Organizations
• Each Functions Individually
• Collective Activities Transient, Shifting Sets
• Subgroups, Cleavages, Secrets Can Develop

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Cerise / Indigo CSCW

• Using Video/ Email at Work
• RD Work
• Faculty, Students, Programmers, Admin.
• Caroline Haythornthwaite Laura Garton
• Collaborators
• Survey and Ethnography

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CSCW Research Questions

• How do Work, Social Roles Affect Media Use?
• Is Email Used Only for Specialized Communication?
• Does Email Use
• Replace, Add To, or Increase F2F, Phone
  Contact?
• Does Email Move Spatial/Social Peripheries
  Socially Closer?
• Does Email Foster Networked Organization?

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Separate Information Exchange Roles Derived from
Factor Analysis of Specific Exchanges

• Work
• Giving Work
• Receiving Work
• Collaborative Writing
• Computer Programming
• Social
• Sociability
• Major Emotional Support

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Communication Roles

• Scheduled Meetings
• Classes, Research Meetings
• Email
• Unscheduled Meetings
• Less Frequent, More Wide-Ranging
• Media that Afford Control of Interactions
• Media associated with Group Norms

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Social Roles

• Sociability, major emotional support
• Media Use follows Pairs Interaction Patterns
• Unscheduled Meetings for Close Friends
• Unscheduled, Scheduled, Email for Work-Only
• Media that Affords Spontaneity
• Social Messages Tag on Work Messages
• Work-Only Pairs Formal Work-Role Pairs

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The Average Pair

• Specialized
• Exchanges 3/6 Types of Information
• Via 1 or 2 Media
• Unscheduled F2F, Scheduled F2F Meetings, or Email
• Mean 5.2 Information-Media Links / Pair

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Conclusions The Cerise Study

• Away from Individual Choice, Congruency
• Social Affordances Only Create Possibilities
• Email Used for All Roles
• Work, Knowledge, Sociability and Support
• Email Lowers Status Distances
• Email Network Not a Unique Social Network
• Intermixed with Face-to-Face (low use of phone,
  video, fax)
• Reduces Temporal as well as Spatial Distances

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• The More Email, the More F2F Contact
• The More Intense Work Friendship Tie
• The More Frequent Email
• Independent Predictors Friendship a bit Stronger
• The More Intense Work Friendship Tie
• The More Types of Media Used to Communicate
• Independent Predictors Friendship Stronger
• F2F the Medium of choice in weaker ties.
• In Stronger Ties, Email Supplements F2F

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Indigo Work Interaction Time 1
Work Interaction (All Media) Prior to Telepresence
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Indigo Work Interaction Time 3
Work Interaction (All Media) 14 months after
Telepresence Intro Greater Decentralization
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Cerise / Indigo Papers

• Caroline Haythornthwaite and Barry Wellman,
  Work, Friendship and Media Use for Information
  Exchange in a Networked Organization.Journal of
  the American Society for Information Science 49
  (1998) 1101-14
• Marilyn Mantei, Ronald Baecker, William Buxton,
  Thomas Milligan, Abigail Sellen and Barry
  Wellman. "Experiences in the Use of a Media
  Space." 1992. Pp 372-78 in Groupware, edited by
  David Marca and Geoffrey Bock. Los Alamitos, CA
  IEEE Computer Society Press, 1992.
• Caroline Haythornthwaite, Barry Wellman Marilyn
  Mantei Work Relationships and Media Use. Group
  Decision and Negotiation 4 (1995) 193-211.
• Caroline Haythornthwaite, Barry Wellman Laura
  Garton, Work and Community Via Computer-Mediated
  Communication. Pp. 199-226 in Psychology and the
  Internet, edited by Jayne Gackenbach. San Diego
  Academic Press, 1998.

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Netting Scholars Communities of Practice
Inquiry

• Emmanuel Koku, Nancy Nazer Barry Wellman
• Netting Scholars Online and Offline.
• American Behavioral Scientist, 44 ,10 (June,
  2001) 1750-72
• Emmanuel Koku Barry Wellman
• Scholarly Networks as Learning Communities
• In Designing Virtual Communities in the Service
  of Learning, Edited by Sasha Barab Rob
  Kling. Cambridge Cambridge University Press,
  2002

84
Comparison of 2 Scholarly Networks
Globenet Technet
Year Founded Founded in 1991-93 Founded in 1995-96
Size 16 (13 men, 3 women) 32 (22 men, 9 women)
Membership Invitational merit, interdisciplinary, niche Voluntary
Location Canada, US, UK 1 Ontario university
Activities 3 Meetings /year Production of a book Frequent seminars, conferences Joint courses, retreats
Funding 9 Senior Fellows get full salaries 7 Associate Fellows get partial funding Members not funded by Technet Many receive other research grants
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• Globenet members use both F2F email to get
  their joint projects done. The dispersion of
  members across Canada, U.S. U.K. leads them to
  use email as a collaborative tool.

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• .
• For Globenetters, the distance between members of
  scholarly pairs is unrelated to the frequency of
  their email contact.
• Except when theyre in the same building

87

• Friendship is the strongest predictor to
  face-to-face email contact in Technet Globenet

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• The scholarly relationship of collaborating on a
  project is the second strongest predictor of
  frequent F2F contact frequent email contact.
• It friendship are the only 2 significant
  predictors.

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• Congruent with the theories of media use Tasks
  requiring complex negotiations preferably
  conducted via richer F2F contacts.
• Technet members use F2F contact when possible.
• Email fills in temporal informational gaps.
  Those Technet members who often read each others
  work, communicate more by email.

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• Where F2F contact is easily done, it is the
  preferred medium for collaborative work.
• However, colleagues easily share their ideas and
  their work or announce its existence by email
  and web postings.
• They do not have to walk over to each others
  offices to do this, although Canadian winters can
  inhibit in-person visits

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Sources of Prominence in Globenet

• External Sources Important for Gaining Entrance
• Scholarly Status
• Niche
• Plus Perceived Internal Congeniality
• Internal Sources Important Within Network
• Knights of the Roundtable
• Formal Role
• Scholarly Communication within Network
• Number of Friendships

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Summary Ties

• Internet Supports Strong Weak Ties
• Evidence Netville, Netting Scholars, Cerise,
  Telework
• Internet Supports Instrumental Socioemotional
  Ties
• Evidence Netville, National Geographic, Netting
  Scholars, Cerise, Telework
• Ties Rarely are Internet-Only
• Evidence Netville, National Geographic, Netting
  Scholars, Cerise, Telework
• Internet Replaces Fax May Reduce Phone
• Not F2F
• Evidence Netville, Netting Scholars, Cerise

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Summary Local Social Capital

• Multiplied Number Range of Neighbors
• Evidence Netville
• Increased Contact with Existing Neighbors
  Email Adds On to Same Levels of F2F, Phone
• Evidence National Geographic, Berkeley,
  Netville?
• Demand for Local Information
• Evidence Netville, Berkeley, Small City Study

94
Summary Long Distance Ties

• Increased Contact with Long Distance Ties
  Email Adds On to Same Levels of F2F, Phone1.
  Friends More than Kin2. Long-Distance Ties More
  than Local3. Post Used Only for Rituals
  (Birthdays, Christmas)
• Evidence National Geographic, Netville

95
Summary Long Distance Ties

• Increased Contact with Long Distance Ties
  Email Adds On to Same Levels of F2F, Phone1.
  Friends More than Kin2. Long-Distance Ties More
  than Local3. Post Used Only for Rituals
  (Birthdays, Christmas)
• Evidence National Geographic, Netville

96
SummaryComputer-Mediated Communication

• Not only supports online virtual communities
• Supports and maintains existing ties strong
  weak
• Increases connectivity with weak ties
• Supports both local and non-local social ties
• In Neighborhood, High-speed Network
• Increases local network size
• Increases amount of local contact
• Long-Distance, High-Speed Network
• Increases amount of contact
• Increases support exchanged
• Facilitates contact with geographical periphery

97
Summary The GloCalization Paradox

• Surf and Email Globally
• Stay Wired at Office/Home to be Online
• Desire for Local/Distant Services and Information
  
• Internet Supplements/Augments F2F
• Doesnt Replace It
• Rarely Used Exclusively
• Media Choice? By Any Means Available
• Many Emails are Local Within the Workgroup
  or Community
• Local Becomes Just Another Interest
• Evidence Netville, National Geographic, Small
  Cities, Berkeley, Netting Scholars, Cerise,
  Indigo, Telework

98
Summary Social Network Structure

• Internet Aids Both Direct Indirect Connections
• Knowledge Acquisition Management
• Accessing Friends of Friends
• Forwarding Folding In Making Indirect Ties
  Direct Ties
• Social and Spatial Peripheries Closer to the
  Center
• Shift from Spatial Propinquity to Shared
  Interests
• Shifting, Fluid Structures
• Networked, Long-Distance Coordination Reports

99
Conclusions Changing Connectivity

• By Any Means Available
• Door-to-Door gt Place-to-Place gt
  Person-to-Person Connectivity
• Less Solidary Households
• Dual Careers
• Multiple Schedules
• Multiple Marriages
• New Forms of Community
• Partial Membership in Multiple Communities
• Networked Virtual Work Relationships

100
ConclusionsRole-to-Role Relationships

• Partial Communities of Shared, Specialized
  Interest
• Importance of Informal Network Capital
• Production
• Reproduction
• Externalities
• Bridging and Bonding Ties

101
ConclusionsHow a Network Society Looks

• Multiplicity of Specialized Relations
• Management by Networks
• More Uncertainty, More Maneuverability
• Boutiques, not General Stores
• Less Palpable than Traditional Solidarities
• Need Navigation Tools
• An Electronic Group is Virtually a Social
  Network." Pp. 179-205 in Culture of the Internet,
  edited by Sara Kiesler. Mahwah, NJ Lawrence
  Erlbaum, 1997.

102
Conclusions Shift to New Kinds Of Community
Workgroups

• Partial Membership in Multiple Networks
• Multiple Reports
• Long-Distance Relationships
• Transitory Work Relationships
• Each Person Operates Own Network
• Online Interactions Linked with Offline
• Status, Power, Social Characteristics Important
• Sparsely-Knit Fewer Direct Connections Than
  Door-To-Door -- Need for Institutional Memory
  Knowledge Management
• IKNOW (Nosh Contractor) Network Tracer
• ContactMap (Bonnie Nardi Steve Whittaker)
  Network Accumulator

103
Conclusions The Rise of Personalized Networking

• Individual Agency Constrained by Nets
• Personalization rather than Group Behavior
• Interpersonal Ties Dancing Dyadic Duets
• Bandwidth
• Sparsely-Knit, Physically-Dispersed Ties
• Social Networks
• Multiple, Ad Hoc
• Wireless Portability

104
Design Considerations for a Networked Society
Connecting

• Open List
• Indicate Presence, Awareness, Availability
• Prioritize from Deductive, Inductive Ad Hoc
  Data
• Prioritize by Locale
• Searchable and Sortable List
• By a Variety of Attributes

105
Design Considerations for a Networked Society
Autonomy

• Incorporate Third Parties
• Quickly Set Up Dissolve Work Teams
• Privacy Protection
• Control Who is Aware of the Interaction
• Alert if Others Lurking
• File Access
• Cross-Platform Communication

106
Three Modes of Interaction Social Structure
Phenomena Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism
Metaphor Fishbowl Core-Periphery Switchboard
Unit of Analysis Village, Band, Shop, Office Household, Work, Unit, Multiple Networks Networked Individual
Social Organization Groups Home Bases Network of Networks Networked Individualism
Era Traditional Contemporary Emerging
107
Boundaries
Phenomena Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism
Physical Context Dominance of immediate context Relevance of immediate context Ignorance of immediate context
Modality Door-to-Door Place-to-Place Person-to-Person
Predominant Mode of Communication Face-to-Face Wired phoneInternet Mobile phone, Wireless modem
Spatial Range Local GloCal Local Global Global
Locale All in common household and work spaces Common household and work spaces for core external periphery External
Awareness and Availability All visible and audible to all High awareness of availability Core immediately visible, audible Little awareness of others availability -- must be contacted Little awareness of availability Must be contacted Visibility and audibility must be negotiated
Access Control Doors wide open to in-group membersWalled off from othersExternal gate guarded Doors ajar within and between networks Look, knock and ask Doors closed Access to others by requestKnock and ask
Physical Access All have immediate access to all Core have immediate accessContacting others requires a journey or telecommunications Contact requires a journey or telecommunications
Permeability Impermeable wall around unit Household and workgroup have strong to weak outside connections Individual has strong to weak connections
108
Boundaries (continued)
Phenomena Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism
Interruptibility High (Open Door) Norm of Interruption Mixed Core interruptibleOthers require deliberate requestsAnswering machineKnocking on door that may be ajar or closedNorm of Interruption within immediate network only Low Contact must be requested May be avoided or refusedPrioritizing voice mailInternet filterKnocking on door that may be ajar or closedNorm of interruption within immediate network only
Observability High All can see when other group members are interacting Mixed Core can observe core Periphery cannot observe core or interactions with other network members Low Interactions with other network members rarely visible
Privacy Low information control Few secretsStatus/Position becomes important capital Low information controlFew secrets for coreVariable information control for peripheryMaterial resources and network connections become important capital High information controlMany secrets Information and ties become important capital
Joining In Anyone can observe interactionsAnyone can join Interactions outside the core rarely observable Difficult to join Interactions rarely observable Difficult to join
Alerts Little awareness of others approaching Open, unlocked doors High prior awareness of peripherys desire to interact Telephone ring, doorbell High prior awareness of others desire to interactFormal requests
109
Interpersonal Interactions
Phenomena Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism
Predominant Basis of Interaction Ascription (What you are born into) e.g., Gender, ethnicity Protect Your Base Before You Attack (attributed to Mao) Free agent
Frequency of Contact High within group Moderate within core Low to moderate outside of core Variable, low with most Moderate overall
Recurrency Recurrent interactions within group Recurrent interactions within core Intermittent with each network member Low with most others Moderate overall
Duration Long duration tiescradle-to-grave employed for life Long duration for household core (except for divorce) Short duration otherwise Short duration ties
Domesticity Cradle-to-graveMom and DadDick and Jane Long-term partners Serial monogamy Dick lives with divorced parent Changing partners Living together Singles Single parents Nanny cares for Jane
Scheduling Drop-In anytime Drop-in within household, work coreAppointments otherwise Scheduled appointments
Transaction Speed Slow Variable in core Fast in periphery Fast
Autonomy Proactivity Low autonomyHigh reactivity Mixed Autonomy within household work coresHigh proactivity autonomy with others High autonomy High proactivity
Tie Maintenance Group maintains ties Core groups maintain internal ties Other ties must be actively maintained Ties must be actively maintained, one-by-one
Predictability Predictability, certainty and security within group interactions Moderate predictability, certainty and security within core Interactions with others less predictable, certain and secure Unpredictability, uncertainty, insecurity, contingency, opportunity
Latency Leaving is betrayal Re-Entry difficult Ability to reestablish relationships quickly with network members not seen in years Ability to reestablish relationships quickly with network members not seen in years
110
Social Networks
Phenomena Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism
Number of Social Circles Few Household, kin, work Multiple Core household, work unit Multiple sets of friends, kin, work associates, neighbors Multiple Dyadic or network ties with household, work unit, friends, kin, work associates, neighbors
Maneuverability Little choice of social circles Choice of core and other social circles Choice of social circles
Trust Building Enforced by group Betrayal of one is betrayal of all Core enforces trust Networked members depend on cumulative reciprocal exchanges and ties with mutual others Dependent on cumulative reciprocal exchanges and ties with mutual others
Social Support Broad (multistranded) Broad household and work core Specialized kin, friends, other work Specialized
Social Integration By groups only Cross-cutting ties between networks integrate societyCore is the common hub Cross-cutting ties between networks integrate society
Cooperation Group cooperationJoint activity for clear, collective purposes Core cooperation Otherwise short-term alliances, tentatively reinforced by trust building and ties with mutual others Independent schedules Transient alliances with shifting sets of others
Knowledge All aware of most information Information open to all within unit Secret to outsiders Core Knows Most Things Variable awareness of and access to what periphery knows Variable awareness of and access to what periphery knows
Social Control Superiors and group exercise tight control Moderate control by core household and workgroup, with some spillover to interactions with periphery Fragmented control within specialized networks Adherence to norms must be internalized by individuals Subgroups, cleavages Partial, fragmented control within specialized networksAdherence to norms must be internalized by individuals
Resources Conserves resources Acquires resources for core units Acquires resources for self
Basis of Success Getting along Position within group Getting alongPosition within core Networking NetworkingFilling structural holes between networks
111
Norms and Perceptions
Phenomena Little Boxes Glocalization Networked Individualism
Socialization Obey group elders Obey your parents cherish your spouse nurture your childrenDefer to your boss work and play well with colleagues and friends Develop strategies and tactics for self-advancement
Sense of Solidarity High group solidarityCollective identityCollective name Moderate solidarity within core household and workgroup, Vitiated by many ties to multiple peripheries Sense of being an autonomous individualFuzzy identifiable networks
Loyalty Particularistic High group loyalty Public and private spheres Moderate loyalty to home base takes precedence over weak loyalty elsewhere SelfGlobal weak and divided loyalties
Conflict Handling Revolt, coupIrrevocable departure Back-bitingKeeping distance AvoidanceExit
Commitment to Network Members High within groups High within core Variable elsewhere Variable
Zeitgeist Communitarian Conflicted Existential
112
After 9-11 Retreat to Little Boxes?

• Back from Networks to Little Boxes?
• Re-establishing Tight Boundaries
• Knowledge Workers Spatial Mobility Hindered
• Goods Made and Sold Locally
• Distrust of Outsiders
• Drawing into Densely-Knit Groups
• Gated Communities
• Gated Work All Work Done on Premises Autarky
• Direct Ties, F2F Ties Replace
• Indirect, Computer Mediated Ties
• Network Analysis Used by Terrorists Governments

113
Little Boxes ? Ramified Networks

• Each in its Place ? Mobility of People and
  Goods
• United Family ? Serial Marriage, Mixed Custody
• Shared Community ? Multiple, Partial Personal
  Nets
• Neighborhoods ? Dispersed Networks
• Voluntary Organizations ? Informal Leisure
• Face-to-Face ? Computer-Mediated
  Communication
• Public Spaces ? Private Spaces
• Focused Work Unit ? Networked Organizations
• Job in a Company ? Career in a Profession
• Autarky ? Outsourcing
• Office, Factory ? Airplane, Internet,
  Cellphone
• Ascription ? Achievement
• Hierarchies ? Matrix Management
• Conglomerates ? Virtual Organizations/Alliances
  
• Cold War Blocs ? Fluid, Transitory Alliances

114
Edited Books

• The Internet in Everyday Life
• Caroline Haythornthwaite, co-editor
• Oxford Blackwell Publishers 2002
• Preliminary American Behavioral Scientist, Nov
  2001
• Networks in the Global Village
• Boulder, CO Westview Press 1999
• Social Structures A Network Approach
• S. D. Berkowitz, co-editor
• Cambridge University Press, 1988
• Reprinted Elsevier-JAI Press, 1997
• Reprinted CSPI Press, Toronto, 2003

115
Recent Integrative Articles

• Computer Networks as Social Networks Science
  293 (Sept 14, 2001) 2031-34.
• Designing the Internet for a Networked Society.
• Communications of the ACM, April 2002 in
  press.
• Research Supported By
• Institute of Knowledge Management,
• CITO, Mitel, National Science Foundation (US),
• Social Science Humanities Research Council of
  Canada

116
Thank You -- Barry Wellman
Networks For Ex-Newbies

• Director, NetLabCentre for Urban
  Community StudiesUniversity of TorontoToronto,
  Canada M5S 1A1wellman_at_chass.utoronto.cawww.chass
  .utoronto.ca/wellman