Social networks and Internet connectivity effects

This paper explores the impact of communication media and the Internet on connectivity between people. Results from a series of social network studies of media use are used as background for exploration of these impacts. These studies explored the use of all available media among members of an academic research group and among distance learners. Asking about media use as well as about the strength of the tie between communicating pairs revealed that those more strongly tied used more media to communicate than weak ties, and that media use within groups conformed to a unidimensional scale, showing a configuration of different tiers of media use supporting social networks of different ties strengths. These results lead to a number of implications regarding media and Internet connectivity, including: how media use can be added to characteristics of social network ties; how introducing a medium can create latent tie connectivity among group members that provides the technical means for activating weak ties, and also how a change in a medium can disrupt existing weak tie networks; how the tiers of media use also suggest that certain media support different kinds of information flow; and the importance of organization-level decisions about what media to provide and promote. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for Internet effects.     

Spatial distance and mobile business social network density

Following the increasing adoption of mobile communication, scholars have shown interest in the role of place on the structure of mobile social networks. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between spatial distance and the closure and diversity of businesses mobile social networks. We used a database that aggregates actual mobile communication patterns of business users of a large Israeli cell phone company (n?= 16,199). Our findings, among a large sample of businesses, provide support for the place and mobile communication perspective. The results reveal a negative association between spatial distance and mobile business communication networks. As spatial distance between business network members increases, business social ties through mobile communication decreases. Furthermore, the results also revealed a negative association between spatial distance and mobile network density. As the spatial distance between business users increases, the density of the mobile communication network diminishes. Physical proximity promotes the development of dense business networks. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Ties that bind: US suburban residents on the social and civic dimensions of work

This paper describes how individuals from eight middle class suburbs in the US expressed the social and civic dimensions of the meaning of work during interviews conducted for Boston University's Middle Class Morality Project. A modified grounded theory approach was used to analyze the interviews from this project, which incorporated aspects of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The paper first examines where individuals located their social ties and discusses the recentering of social ties in work and work organizations among these suburban North Americans. Stories and talk of work are then analyzed to illustrate individuals' constructions of the civic and social meaning of their work. The conclusion considers more broadly how the movement of women into the formal labor force, the growth of nonprofit sector jobs, and the increasing prevalence of team-based organizations relate to these dimensions of the meaning of work. I suggest that culturally constructed divisions between the spheres of home, work, and community that emerged during industrialization may be weakening as the social and civic dimensions of work become more salient in a post-industrial era.     

Building relational capital: The contribution of episodic and relational community engagement

In this study, we provide evidence of the theorized connection between community engagement and the development of social capital, and the perceived value or worth of relationships among organizations and stakeholders. Using thematic analysis to understand the policy and practice frameworks of community engagement in Australian local government organizations, our analyses reveal two different types of community engagement—relational and episodic—each of which has the potential to contribute to relational dimension of social capital. The study introduces and develops new thinking around the ideas of episodic and relational engagement within the context of community engagement, and their respective contributions to the development of relational capital. Recognizing and identifying episodic and relational community engagement as separate phenomena allows researchers and practitioners to understand the theoretical dimensions of community engagement as a framework for practice.     

The contextual effect of trust on perceived support: Evidence from Roma and non-Roma in East-Central Europe

In recent years, trust has been conceptualized as an important source of social capital, setting off cross-disciplinary research on both the benefits and predictors of trust at the individual and contextual level. In this paper, we turn to the individual outcomes of living in a trustful context, and explore the relationship between trust, itself one of the main components of social capital, and social support, seen as one of the most important effects of social capital. In particular, we ask how social capital—and the relationship between trust and social support—functions in the context of unequal societies. We model perceived support as an outcome across three levels, from no support to proximate to distal support, and using a cross-national study of Roma and non-Roma across 12 European countries, we track the relationship between trust and support across both mainstream and marginalized populations. Our findings suggest that living in contexts with more trust has protective effects particularly for members of marginalized groups: the Roma are more likely to have distal support in contexts with higher trust. We conclude that contextual trust helps to broaden the circle of support beyond family and friends; thus, trust can indeed be a synthetic force that binds individuals together in broadened structures of support.     

Loneliness,social support,and preference for online social interaction: the mediating effects of identity experimentation online among children and adolescents

This study explores the practices of online social activities among children and adolescents in order to uncover the connections between preferences for online social interaction and loneliness, social support, and the mediating effect of identity experimentation online. Data were gathered from a random sample of 718 youngsters aged 9 to 19. Analyses revealed that individuals who are lonely and have a lower level of offline social support find opportunities for identity experimentation online more gratifying than those who are less lonely or not lonely. Both loneliness and social support offline were found significantly related to preference for online social interaction, but the relationships were mediated by identity experimentation online. Finally, it was found that age differences exist. In particular, individuals aged 9 to 14 who are lonely and those aged 15 to 19 with little social support show a significant preference for online social interaction. Implications for future research into identity experimentation online and social relationship are discussed.     

Neighborhoods in the Network Society the e-Neighbors study

This study examines whether the Internet is increasingly a part of everyday neighborhood interactions, and in what specific contexts Internet use affords the formation of local social ties. Studies of Internet and community have found that information and communication technologies provide new opportunities for social interaction, but that they may also increase privatism by isolating people in their homes. This paper argues that while the Internet may encourage communication across great distances, it may also facilitate interactions near the home. Unlike traditional community networking studies, which focus on bridging the digital divide, this study focuses on bridging the divide between the electronic and parochial realms. Detailed, longitudinal social network surveys were completed with the residents of four contrasting neighborhoods over a period of three years. Three of the four neighborhoods were provided with a neighborhood email discussion list and a neighborhood website. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to model over time the number of strong and weak ties, emailed, met in-person, and talked to on the telephone. The neighborhood email lists were also analyzed for content. The results suggest that with experience using the Internet, the size of local social networks and email communication with local networks increases. The addition of a neighborhood email list further increases the number of weak neighborhood ties, but does not increase communication multiplexity. However, neighborhood effects reduce the influence of everyday Internet use, as well as the experimental intervention, in communities that lack the context to support local tie formation.     

Bridging transformational leadership,transparent communication,and employee openness to change: The mediating role of trust

Based on a random sample of employees (n = 439) in the United States, this study examined the effect of transformational leadership and transparent organizational communication on cultivating employee organizational trust during an organizational change event. We also investigated the interplay between transformational leadership, transparent communication, and organizational trust, and their impact on employee openness to change. The findings suggested that transformational leadership and transparent communication were positively associated with employee organizational trust, which in turn, positively influenced employee openness to change. Theoretical and managerial contributions of the study were discussed.     

The strengths of close ties: Taiwanese online entrepreneurship,gender and intersectionality

This article examines entrepreneurs who have started innovative Internet and mobile technology companies in Taiwan because they are at the forefront of industrial changes in the country. Similar to findings in Europe and the USA, education and careers in technology in Taiwan remain dominated by men. However, I argue that the gender inequality of the sector is partly the result of the fact that small new enterprises rely on family support and close social networks. Few women are able to join the sector with male friends and colleagues due to the close social ties of the founding teams (homophily). Among my female interviewees, half have started their nascent companies with their husbands and male partners (husband and wife teams). However, gender, family backgrounds and childcare responsibilities affect both men and women, and the interviewees in my study were open in discussing these personal factors in relation to being entrepreneurs. This article argues that starting an Internet company is a family decision, discussed within the household. Intersectionality, not only gender, explains the founders’ decision to start a company, and their choice of co-founders.     

Social capital online: Collective use of the Internet and reciprocity as lubricants of democracy

This article puts the democratic potential of using the Internet into perspective through an analysis of how collective uses of the Internet promote social capital. Research results reveal that social capital online (i.e. trust and reciprocity) is enhanced by involvement in collective use of the Internet such as participation in online communities and use of the Internet among informal groups in everyday life. This process could counter negative aspects of Internet use. Further, accumulated online social capital can be a powerful predictor of online political participation, i.e. online reciprocity has a positive effect on intention to participate in online civic discussion. Finally, the authors' analyses indicate the possibility of a spillover of online social capital into offline arenas. It is concluded that collective use of the Internet can be a lubricant for democracy.     

Crisis communication within a community: Bonding,coping, and making sense together

Crisis communication has been researched extensively from managerial and functionalist approaches, and little empirical research exists exploring the role of a community in helping community members cope with crises. Situated in this major gap, the current investigation adopts a community-centered approach that combines insights from chaos theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and sensemaking theory. This study used a mixed method design to examine the role of a campus community in dealing with a variety of campus crises. The qualitative study gave an in-depth understanding of how a crisis is perceived and the underlying process of how a community helps to make sense of a crisis. The quantitative study tested and further illustrated this process through path analysis. The major contributions of this study to the current crisis communication literature are twofold: (1) a crisis-induced community building model that demonstrates a community’s role in helping community members self-organize, collectively make sense of a crisis, and reproduce community experiences; and (2) instruments to measure a crisis and community functionalities. Theoretical implications of this study on chaos theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and sensemaking theory are discussed.     

The influence of customer use of corporate websites: Corporate social responsibility,trust, and word-of-mouth communication

This study investigates the potential of organization websites from the customer's perspective. The findings include significant direct effects of customers’ use of corporate websites on their perceptions of a company's corporate social responsibility and their trust in the company, and indirect effects of their use of corporate websites on positive word-of-mouth through trust. The results also indicate a close link between perception of corporate social responsibility and trust.     

Building protest online: engagement with the digitally networked #not1more protest campaign on Twitter

This article examines engagement with digitally networked, politically contentious actions. Maintaining engagement over time is a key challenge for social movements attempting to network digitally. This article argues that proximity serves as a condition to address this challenge, because it configures the personal networks upon which transmission depends. This is a paradox of digital activism: it has the capacity to transcend barriers; however, proximity is essential for sustaining relations over time. Examining Twitter data from the #not1more protest campaign against immigrant deportations in the United States, quantitative and social network analyses show a differentiated development of engagement, which results in a particular geographical configuration with the following attributes. First, there is a robust and connected backbone of core organizers and activists located in particular major cities. Second, local groups engage with the campaign with direct actions in other cities. Third, a large and transitory contingent of geographically dispersed users direct attention to the campaign. We conclude by elaborating how this geographically differentiated configuration helps to sustain engagement with digitally networked action.     

Family capital: Examining social capital,family commitment,and acculturation among college-enrolled Mexican-American men and women in the Southwestern United States

Social capital is integral to an individual’s ability to access various resources embedded in social and familial networks that are important in academic access and future success. The types and dynamics of social relationships created by men and women are thought to generate different forms of social capital with factors such as acculturation resulting in differences in intercultural networks and potential resource access. However, the factors that contribute to the development of social capital require further investigation. The current study examines the relationship between acculturation, family role commitment, and various social network characteristics associated with social capital among Mexican-American college-enrolled men (n = 119) and women (n = 196). Several multiple regressions were conducted. Findings indicate that acculturation and family role commitment relate differently to social-capital-network characteristics among Mexican-American men and women. For women, marital commitment was consistently related to social-capital-network characteristics whereas acculturation factors seemed to be more salient among men. Overall, study variables accounted for a larger portion of the variance for social-capital-network characteristics across analyses for men than women indicating that other factors may be at play in generating social capital for women.     

When Public Tragedies Happen: Community Practice Approaches in Grief,Loss, and Recovery

Although an expansive literature exists on individual experiences after a catastrophic event, there is less attention to how the community as a social structure experiences a significant tragedy. These public tragedies create disruptions across multiple domains of community functioning. Using the Community Capacity Model (Hart, 1999) as a framework for assessment, outcomes of a public tragedy are described. Additionally, community practice approaches are identified for the three phases that communities subsequently experience: crisis, processing of the event, and adaptation.     

Resolving complex community problems: Applying collective leadership and Kotter's change model to wicked problems within social system networks

How does collective leadership within social networks resolve chronic and complex problems common to communities? Unfortunately, sometimes it does not, but when it does, the outcome may be truly extraordinary. We use a case study approach to explain how one Midwest community within the USA applied collective leadership within a community network to reduce teen births. It took ten years of what many identified as provocative media campaigns and comprehensive sex education programs to reduce teen births by 65%, significantly exceeding the stated goal. Using Kotter's change model as a backdrop, powerful strategies and provocative creativity reveal courageous leadership within a social network of diverse people and organizations focused on improving the social well being of their community.     

Local resident composition in the community and local identity among rural migrants in Guangzhou,China

In China, how does the proportion of local-born residents in a community shape the local identity of rural migrants who do not have the local hukou that would allow them to enjoy the local benefits and welfare provided by the government? Our findings show that despite their socially marginalized status, the migrants' level of local identity is strongly related to community composition. Our study is based on data collected recently in Guangzhou, a major city in southern China that has been a popular destination for rural migrants. We found that living in a community with a high percentage of local residents significantly improves the local identity of rural migrants. However, frequent social interaction with local residents mediates this relationship in a community where about half of the residents are local. We also found that the migrants' subjective perception of socioeconomic status positively mediates the relationship between the proportion of local residents in the community and the local identity of rural migrants.     

Network exceptionalism: online action,discourse and the opposition to SOPA and ACTA

Advocacy campaigns opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) illustrate that the dynamics of networked activism have symbolic as well as structural aspects, with implications for scholars and activists who have focused on the coordination possibilities of networks. This paper analyses the creation and movement of discourses of ‘network exceptionalism’ between advocates, online culture and news media. Networks operate functionally to disseminate ideas and link together people participating in social action (e.g. by embedding aspects of discourse in memes, which then propagate ideas swiftly), but also symbolically, inflecting discourses towards a focus on the exceptional – and essential – qualities of the internet. These discourses embed fears about the fragility and indispensability of the internet, as well as thrilling and threatening elements like Anonymous. They are carried by memes that link the structural dynamics of networked activism to the discourses of illness, threat and utility, and gain different inflections through the European campaigns to oppose ACTA. These discourses not only create spaces for discussing and expanding upon the value of the internet to communication rights, but also leave room for interpretations that may undermine these advocacy projects.     

Technological socialities: The impact of information and communication technologies on belonging among deaf and hard-of-hearing people

This review article examines how different types of communication technologies, from the specialized medical to generic social devices, influence belonging and sociality among deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) people. The emphasis is on DHH adolescents and young adults who may be impacted differently across countries, given state-specific policies regarding the status of sign language and deaf education, and based on different availability, affordability, and accessibility of communication technologies. We introduce different perspectives on deafness, ranging from pathological to cultural, a heuristic on which we build to explore DHH socialities as complex and evolving. We then analytically review ethnographic research on how cochlear implants impact DHH people's belonging to the “deaf world” and/or the “hearing world,” and how they navigate between these worlds. Then we move on to technologies such as text messages and social media, which enable DHH people to extend their socialities beyond local communities. Belonging is a fluid phenomenon, and technologies which are in a constant process of innovation and development may influence it in complex ways. We argue that to explore questions of belonging, identity, and sociality among DHH people, and how they are shaped by technologies, (visual) ethnographic methods are particularly productive.