Social+networks+and+Internet+connectivity+effects

 = Haythornthwaite, Caroline. "Social networks and Internet connectivity effects." = [|Information, Communication & Society] ; Jun2005, Vol. 8 Issue 2, p125-147, 23p. Article

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= Abstract =

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 tired used more media to communicate than weak ties, and that media use within groups conformed to a uni-dimensional 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.

= Argument =

In the article, Haythornthwaite talks about connectivity between people using the Internet and other forms of media. He argues that social networking can both harm and help communication between people. Through disengaging verbal communication, people are loosing the social contact that is not connected to technology. However, social networking sites help the create relationships between long lost family and friends. Haythornthwaite believes that people who use more media to communicate have stronger ties. When a means of communication is established, it can help lay the groundwork for latent and weak tie connectivity which can eventually grow into strong ties. The internet and its various mediums is becoming more widely used and this can affect access to resources.

Other than just relationships the social networking through the internet also helps researchers, students, and businesspeople. Haythornthwaite raises the question "are online ties real ties?". According to him they are. Before technology was this advanced, humans were unable to connect emotionally. Feelings and emotions now go into the social networking that once was not present. Contrarily, Haythornthwaite points out that these ties can have a negative impact. Caution should be taken when interacting with any social networking.

= Key Passages =

"As use of the Internet and computer networks expands and integrates with everyday life, questions about use are changing from who is 'signing on' to more in-depth analysis of what people do online."

"The results show that different media influence the shape of the network, with particular difference evident between the use of media by those strongly versus weakly tied."

"These results and overall patterns suggest that we can add media use to the list of tie strength characteristics (see Table 2), as well as considering expectations about what kinds of media use are associated with both strong and weak ties (see Table 3)."

"Building on the finding that mandated media provide a substrate of connection for weakly tied pairs, the theory proposes that introducing a new medium to a group (1) creates latent ties, (2) recasts weak ties--both forging new ones and disrupting existing associations -- and (3) has minimal impact on strong ties. For simplicity, the theory will be referred to as latent tie theory. "

= Selected Works Cited =

Bregman, A. and Haythornthwaite, C. 2003 Radicals of Presentation: Visibility, relation & co-presence in persistent conversation New Media and Society, 5(1): 117-140.

Constant, D. Kiesler, S. B. and Sproull, L.S. 1996. The kindness of strangers: The usefulness of electronic weak ties for technical advice. Organization Science. 7(2):119-135

Haythornthwaite, C 2002a. Strong, weak and latent ties and the impact of new media. The Information Society, 18(5): 385-401

Bulkeley, W.M. and Wong, W. 2003, Six degrees of exploitation? New programs help companies 'mine' worker relationships for business prospects. Wall St Journal, 4 August 2003