Perspective-taking and memory capacity predict social network size

Human social networks typically consist of a hierarchically organized series of grouping levels. There is, however, considerable variation between individuals in the sizes of any given network layer. We test between two possible factors (memory capacity and theory of mind) that might limit the size of two different levels within human social networks (support cliques and sympathy groups). We show that the size of an individual's support clique (the number of individual's in the innermost circle of friends) is better explained by individual differences in social cognition (mentalising skills). However, the size of the sympathy group (the most frequent social partners) is better explained by individual's performance on memory tasks.     

A network centrality bias: Central individuals in workplace networks have more supportive coworkers

Combining the results of two empirical studies, we investigate the role of alters’ motivation in explaining change in ego’s network position over time. People high in communal motives, who are prone to supportive and altruistic behavior in their interactions with others as a way to gain social acceptance, prefer to establish ties with co-workers occupying central positions in organizational social networks. This effect results in a systematic network centrality bias: The personal network of central individuals (individuals with many incoming ties from colleagues) is more likely to contain more supportive and altruistic people than the personal network of individuals who are less central (individuals with fewer incoming ties). This result opens the door to the possibility that the effects of centrality so frequently documented in empirical studies may be due, at least in part, to characteristics of the alters in an ego’s personal community, rather than to egos themselves. Our findings invite further empirical research on how alters’ motives affect the returns that people can reap from their personal networks in organizations.     

Changes in core network size in Japan: Comparisons between the 1990s and 2010s

Few studies have examined changes in network size during the past 20 years in Japan despite changes in many other aspects of Japanese society that could affect Japanese social relationships. I conducted a time-series cross-sectional survey to investigate changes in network size for married Japanese people from 1993 to 2014. Results follow: 1) core network sizes decreased slightly; 2) the number of married males with no core network outside their households increased slightly; 3) kin and neighbour network sizes decreased and friend network size increased among married females; 4) kin network size decreased among married males; and 5) the probability of younger married males having no network friends increased. Overall, changes in network sizes were small, and we cannot conclude that serious social decay occurs among married Japanese people.     

Being close: The quality of social relationships in a local organic cereal and bread network in Lower Austria

Experience of the drawbacks of a globalised and industrialised food system has generated interest in localised food systems. Local food networks are regarded as more sustainable food provision systems since they are assumed to have high levels of social embeddedness and relations of regard. This paper explores the social relations between food actors and how ‘local’ and ‘organic’ are expressed by detailing how actors describe qualities of their intra-network relationships, how they understand ‘local’ and how they are connected within the food system. A study from the province of Lower Austria in Austria, where organic cereals and bread are produced and marketed, serves to illuminate these issues. Actors agreed that geographical closeness contributed to the social closeness they experienced and that social relationships were a strong reason for being in the network. However, the meaning of ‘local’ was elastic depending on where inputs and consumers could be found. Furthermore, despite strong commitment to organic production methods and the local market, actors faced constraints that made them hybrids between organic and conventional, and between locally focused and globally dependent. Thus, the binary thinking along the local-global and organic-conventional divide does not hold. While it is important to not make a causal link between high quality of social relationships and local food networks, the case described here indicates the possibility of such a link.     

Similarities between friends on service,activism, and awareness of inequities in an adolescent social network

This brief report characterizes the tendency of adolescent friends to be similar on civic behaviors and critical consciousness. Using two waves of network data from a high school that serves primarily low-income Latiné youth (2019, N = 519; 2020, N = 521), the present study examined homophily on service, activism, and awareness of inequities. The results of Exponential Random Graph Models indicated that adolescents tended to be friends with peers who had similar service behavior and awareness of inequities, but not activism. The findings suggest that schools could foster civic engagement by providing infrastructure that encourages civic interactions between peers. The current study highlights the potential that social network analysis holds for generating novel insights into the relational underpinnings of youth civic engagement.     

Influentials,novelty, and social contagion : The viral power of average friends,close communities,and old news

What is the effect of (1) popular individuals, and (2) community structures on the retransmission of socially contagious behavior? We examine a community of Twitter users over a five month period, operationalizing social contagion as ‘retweeting’, and social structure as the count of subgraphs (small patterns of ties and nodes) between users in the follower/following network.     

Mobilising social network support for childcare: The case of Polish migrant mothers in Dublin

This paper describes the utilisation of support networks for the organisation of informal childcare by working Polish migrant mothers in Dublin. Grounded in a support network perspective the study employs a mixed method approach to elucidate how the mothers use local and transnational relations in their child-minding strategies, but also highlights the obstacles posed by the distant character of the latter ties. In line with previous research on support networks, we find a strong reliance on strong ties in providing instrumental and emotional support (e.g., Wellman and Wortley, 1990) but also that ‘distance’ matters (e.g., Mok et al., 2010) and shapes the network mobilisation strategies of the working mothers. Locally based weak ties, based on various forms of reciprocity, are supplemental in providing ad-hoc crisis support when transnational ties cannot be mobilized. Nonetheless, transnational ties are shown to be crucial in the childcare provision, in particular for longer spells of regular childcare.     

Cross-national variation in political network size,distribution, and prediction

Network size has a fundamental influence on other network properties. As studies of social network size have accumulated beyond the U.S. and Western Europe, diversity in the networks examined and methods used to construct size estimates have hindered the ability to make direct cross-national comparisons. We employ data from a summary political discussion network size measure in 17 surveys conducted in 15 countries between 2012 and 2018. We offer improved cross-national data on political network size distributions and estimate aggregate and country-specific models to understand the factors, both social and political, that predict political network size within countries.     

Demographic and HIV status diversities as mechanisms of social integration and segregation among Black sexual and gender minorities enrolled in a community-based social network intervention

Drawing on a social integration and intersectionality framework, this study advances a dynamic network understanding of the mechanisms that enable differential patterns of within-group social integration and segregation among Black sexual and gender minorities (BSGM). Specifically, in a cohort of BSGM (18–35 years of age, n = 340) participating in a community-based network intervention for HIV prevention, we examine how sexual, gender, age, and HIV status diversities contribute to friendship formation and maintenance patterns over the 12-month study enrollment period. We found attenuated social integration (or social activity) among non-gay-identified and older BSGM and evidence of social segregation (or homophily) on the basis of sexual identity and age similarities. Accounting for the moderating effects of the intervention revealed that the attenuated integration of non-gay-identified and older BSGM were stronger for participants who received the peer leadership training, and integration challenges were also found for transgender BSGM who received the peer leadership training. Meanwhile, BSGM living with HIV who received the peer leadership training were significantly more integrated than their counterparts in the control arm. These findings help us understand the complicated social fabric among BSGM and the dynamics that interventions for this community may have to contend with or alter.     

Mapping the two levels of digital divide: Internet access and social network site adoption among older adults in the USA

Older adults have increasingly adopted Internet and social network sites (SNSs), but little communication scholarship has explored systematic differences in access within this population. Using a nationally representative sample of Americans over the age of 50 years from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, we examine Internet access (N?=?18,851) and SNS adoption patterns (N?=?869) among this sample and explore how these patterns vary by age. Regarding Internet access, results suggest that while the gender divide has reversed in favor of women, older adults who are economically, socioculturally, or physically disadvantaged are less likely to have reliable Internet access. In addition, the view that the various divides in Internet access are less of a concern for those who are younger is only partially supported, as some access-related divides do not vary by age or even decrease with age. For SNS adoption, we found that access to technological resources (diversity of online activities) positively predicts SNS use. Moreover, SNS users are more likely to be younger, female, widowed, and homemakers, perhaps because these individuals are more motivated to use SNSs to complement or compensate for their existing social status. These findings reveal unique challenges and motivations in relation to Internet access and SNS adoption patterns across the later life span.     

Exploring variation in active network size: Constraints and ego characteristics

Studies of active personal networks have primarily focused on providing reliable estimates of the size of the network. In this study, we examine how compositional properties of the network and ego characteristics are related to variation in network size. There was a negative relationship between mean emotional closeness and network size, for both related and unrelated networks. Further, there was a distinct upper bound on total network size. These results suggest that there are constraints both on the absolute number of individuals that ego can maintain in the network, and also on the emotional intensity of the relationships that ego can maintain with those individuals.     

Polarized public opinion responding to corporate social advocacy: Social network analysis of boycotters and advocators

Despite growing attention to corporate social-political advocacy, little is known about how publics mobilize and establish relationships in social media when firms are involved in hot-button issues. Using the social network approach, this study examines a network structure which emerged around boycotting and advocating for Starbucks and Budweiser when these two brands responded to President Donald Trump’s immigration ban executive order in 2017. The study identified three unique characteristics in the boycotters’ networks. The boycotters appeared not only in the aggregated brand boycotting networks, but also in the advocators’ networks. In addition, boycotters in Budweiser and Starbucks networks were engaged in boycotting other brands or organizations which were opposed to Republicans or President Trump’s policy. Finally, the network of boycotters was very dense and highly connected among subgroups while that of advocators was sparse. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Older people and poverty in rural Britain: Material hardships,cultural denials and social inclusions

This paper explores the relations between older people, poverty and place in rural Britain. It develops previous work on rural poverty that has pointed both to the significance of older people within the rural poor population and to their denials of poverty. The paper also connects with recent discussions on the complexity of relations between poverty and social exclusion in later life, as well as key themes emerging from studies of older people in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods. Drawing on findings from a survey of 4000 households in rural Wales and interviews with older people in poverty in three rural places, the paper provides a detailed examination of the materialities and experiences of poverty among older people in rural places. In particular, it highlights how older poor groups construct their lives in complex terms with references made to both social inclusions and exclusions. The research also points to the significance of the socio-cultural contexts of place in shaping older people's understandings of poverty in rural areas.     

The missing link: Social network analysis in migration and transnationalism

The focus on social networks in migration studies marked a significant departure of understanding. Social networks are not only a mechanism through which the migration process is patterned, but they also have broader implications for migrants and non-migrants alike. Despite the fact that the network character of migration processes has long been recognized in migration studies, for a long time, Social Network Analysis has not been applied. Taking this scholarly omission as a starting point, we seek in this special issue to discuss recent research into social networks and migration that use SNA approaches.     

Old friends and new acquaintances: Tie formation mechanisms in an interorganizational network generated by employee mobility

This study investigates mechanisms of tie formation in an interorganizational network generated by the mobility of employees between organizations. We analyze a data set that contains information on all organizations in the Stockholm metropolitan area between 1990 and 2003. We show that the formation of new ties is contingent upon the direction of past ties, and that most connections occur at an intermediate geodesic distance of 2 and 3. The findings highlight the importance of tie direction and indirect connections in research on network dynamics and knowledge exchanges stemming from the mobility of employees across organizations.     

Producing public goods in networks: Some effects of social comparison and endogenous network change

As actors participate in the production of public goods, processes of social comparison may affect the decisions about the individual contributions as well as the endogenously changing structure of an underlying social network. This leads to the transformation of an ordinary n-player Prisoner's Dilemma of collective action into an n-player coordination game. The paper uses agent-based simulations to trace the formation of public goods while varying network characteristics, such as density, segregation, or the strength of relationships. Additionally, the usage of both a forward- and a backward-looking agent model shows possible implications of different assumptions about the actors’ decision making.     

Young people and social networking sites: exploring the views and training opportunities of CAMHS social workers in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Social Networking Sites (SNS) (e.g. Facebook, Instagram) have become a fundamental part of the daily lives of many young people. SNS engagement has been associated with a number of risks and benefits, some of which are particularly relevant to young people who access child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Consequently, understanding how and why young people engage with SNS, and the associated risks and benefits, may become an increasingly important part of CAMHS social work.

This small-scale study (n = 15) utilised an online survey to explore the importance that a sample of Irish CAMHS social workers attribute to maintaining an awareness of how young people use SNS, whether they, in their professional lives, have been offered the opportunity to learn about SNS engagement among young people, and whether they have taken it upon themselves to learn about this topic.

Findings suggest that participants consider an understanding of SNS to be an important part of CAMHS practice. However, participants report that they do not feel sufficiently aware of SNS trends among young people, suggesting that there is scope for SNS-focused training/learning opportunities among this sample of CAMHS social workers. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are outlined.     

The importance of the size of the social network and residential proximity in the reception of informal care in the European Union

This paper explores which factors affect the reception of informal care among those dependent people aged 65 and over in Europe, starting from the so-called Behavioural Model of Health Service Use introduced by Andersen. The data employed are drawn from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement. The final sample consists of a total of 17,284 older dependent people of which 4529 (26.2%) received informal care. The main novelty is the incorporation of different characteristics of the social network of the individual (presence of children, size and residential proximity) among the factors that enable the reception of informal care. In particular the two latter aspects are combined in one sole indicator of distance to the social network. In addition to ‘traditional factors’ like age or degree of dependency, all the characteristics of the social network are found to influence the likelihood of receiving informal care. This reveals the need for taking into consideration the role played by social networks when governments design care programmes, especially in the current scenario of rising demand for care.     

Bridging semantic and social network analyses: the case of the hashtag #precisamosfalarsobreaborto (we need to talk about abortion) on Twitter

This paper presents an innovative method design that combines semantic with social network analysis in order to measure opinion leadership in social networking sites in a more accurate way. We used this method to assess the efficacy of the TPM magazine in disseminating its pro-decriminalization of abortion frames (contained in the cover story of its 148th issue) that were associated with the hashtag #precisamosfalarsobreaborto (a trending topic in November 2014). The data were collected from Twitter through the data-mining application NodeXL (N?=?1010). A content analysis of a random sample was carried out (N?=?376; margin of error?=?4%; confidence interval?=?95%; Krippendorff’s alpha?=?0.661). Using the software Gephi, we plotted the data on a socio-semantic graph, which indicates that (a) the border of the social network does not represent a semantic gap with the center and (b) despite the network being extremely like-minded, one of its hubs appears to be what we conceptualize as a hotspot of contestation. We discuss how future research may replicate and refine our methodology to handle population datasets and big data as well.     

Collaboration and competition in a children's health initiative coalition: a network analysis

Activating communities to achieve public health change and initiate policy reform usually requires collective action from many entities. This case study analyzes inter-organizational networks among members of a coalition created to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured children in a large metropolitan area. Six networks were measured: collaboration, competition, formal agreements, receive funding from, send funding to, and greater communication. The response rate was 65.8% (50 of the 76 active members). Positive network questions such as “who do you collaborate with” elicited many network choices whereas negative ones such as “who do you compete with” elicited few. The collaboration network had a core–periphery structure and analysis showed that a large network can be reduced to a small set of core organizations one-sixth the size of the whole. Centrality (out- and in-degree) was associated with perceived organizational function and perceived barriers to success. For example, organizations that received many choices as collaboration partners were more likely to perceive the coalition functioned well than those who received few choices. The study suggests that perceptions of organizational performance are associated with position in the network, central members are more likely to perceive the organization performs well than those on the periphery.