Exploring the Role of Third Places in Shaping Health and Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study With Older Adults.

Understanding, describing and measuring workplace physical activity patterns in men from a regional area of Queensland, Australia

Research on social networks of immigrants and their descendants usually starts from the distinction between ‘ethnic’ ties and ties to members of the population without migration background. In migration studies ‘ethnic’ ties are repeatedly associated with ‘strong ties’, whereas ‘weak ties’ – that are found to be essential for the access to jobs in the wider society – are associated with contacts to members of the ‘majority population’. Building on existing criticism of this narrowing dichotomy and looking at upward social mobility careers of immigrants’ descendants we question this group-related understanding of weak and strong ties. Examining professional trajectories of immigrants’ descendants in Germany, this chapter suggests shifting the focus to occupational contexts in order to understand better how and why different types of social ties can play an important role for their professional mobility. We argue that both the quality of ties and their ‘ethnic dimension’ are dependent on the occupational context with its specific institutionalized modes of access and recruitment. Moreover, different forms of ‘ethnic’ or ‘cross-ethnic’ ties develop a changing significance in the course of a career and over time; this makes it necessary to also look at the dynamics in careers and the occupational contexts. The chapter compares the role of social ties for the inclusion into two occupational fields: law and public administration. It draws on interviews with (mainly Turkish) immigrants’ descendants working in these sectors. While in the law sector mainly ‘weak ties’, which had been built up during university studies and in the course of later careers, proved important, in public administration ‘strong ties’ to relatives and friends were most crucial for the access to jobs. In both sectors, we can observe that ties to ‘co-ethnics’ become increasingly relevant for professional careers as people of immigrant descent gradually achieve higher positions.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF NETWORK TIE AND BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION: IMPLICATIONS OF STRONG AND WEAK TIE POSITION

Supporting physical activity in an ageing world: a call for action

Social network research has investigated how people mobilise their social ties at work to achieve desired outcomes, devoting less attention to how people cognitively activate, or “call to mind”, their social ties in the first place. To begin to address this gap, in this paper we explore some factors influencing the extent to which people cognitively activate four different types of workplace social ties (daily communication ties; weekly communication ties; trust ties; friendship ties). In particular, we explore the role of physical features of the workplace in shaping the cognitive activation of these four types of social ties. We draw on detailed data on the spatial features of workspaces, face-to-face interactions, and the cognitive activation of social ties among 91 individuals in a business incubator. We find that, net of actual interactions, spatial factors such as individuals’ propinquity, occupancy of open vs. private offices, and location near shared physical resources (e.g., printers, meeting roo...

Being physically active and socially connected is positively associated with healthy aging. Older adults living in the community may be at risk of social isolation and reduced physical activity, especially in recent times due to COVID-19. There are many programs that offer opportunities for evidence-based physical activity or social connection; however, there is a lack of programs that include both. The objective of this study was to explore the lived experience of older adults who participated in Connect 60+ - a program that promoted exercise and social activities - delivered from a community hub that could be attended either in person or online. A qualitative study that used descriptive phenomenology was conducted. A purposive sample of 13 older adults (age ≥65years) was recruited to take part in semistructured telephone interviews to discuss barriers and enablers to program engagement. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The overarching theme was that participating in Connect 60+ was an enjoyable and encouraging experience for participants. The program enabled them to increase their physical activity and build social connections within their community. The main themes that enabled engagement were: (1) an enabling program design, (2) developing new connections in the community, and (3) experiencing motivation to engage. A few barriers were identified, including difficulties connecting online and lack of male attendance. Wellness programs delivered in community hubs may facilitate older adults to increase their engagement in both physical and social activity. The program appeared to impact positively on participants' motivation, with some participants reporting that they had sustained their behaviour changes since program completion. To address identified barriers, easy to use online technology is recommended, and strategies to promote male attendance.

Since Granovetter's path breaking work in the 1970s, there has been much discussion about the relevance of weak ties in finding new jobs and generally getting ahead in society. Subsequent research has found evidence to both support and challenge his original theory. However, concerns have also been expressed about the meaning of this concept. What exactly are ‘weak ties’, how are they created and what resources flow through them? In my previous work, I have distinguished between horizontal and vertical ties and the relationships and resources available within them. This paper goes further; drawing on new, mixed methods research with Polish migrants, I explore what types of social ties are useful in contexts of deskilling and finding jobs commensurate with qualifications. Interrogating the concept of ‘weak ties’, I argue that tie strength and ethnic composition are less important than relative social distance and willingness to share valuable resources. I propose that ‘strong ties' can also act as vertical bridges (or ladders), while ties which are too ‘weak’ may lack necessary trust to share latent resources. I consider the importance of a temporal perspective to explore the dynamism and life cycle of ties over time – as some lapse while others strengthen.

The dichotomy between ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ ties is a common theme in sociological scholarship dealing with urban space, yet urban ethnographers have long been describing the prevalence of impersonal relations. Such relations can be described as fleeting encounters between complete strangers, while others – as in the case of ‘nodding’ relationships – are durable and have yet to be conceptualised. The notion of ‘invisible ties’ is proposed as a conceptual handle for studying typical urban relations that complement the established notions of strong and weak ties. Through an empirical study of four residential buildings in Geneva (Switzerland), these ‘invisible ties’ are revealed by means of a systemic approach to social urban life, from which two key actors emerge: ‘socialisers’ and ‘figures’. This research addresses gaps in the literature on interpersonal relations in urban contexts by focusing on the interplay between different types of social ties, encompassing the whole continuum from anonymity to intimacy.

In this volume, both qualitative and quantitative scholars describe their findings on the networks of migrants and their descendants and explore the content of their social ties for educational and labor market success in seven European countries. Some contributions cover decades of work in this field, making this one of most comprehensive books on this topic, both theoretically and empirically. Almost without exception, the authors, although describing various ethnic groups, different geographical and professional contexts and different time periods, are critical of a number of the main arguments about the networks of migrants developed in the field of migration studies. Central in their critique is the question about the importance of co-ethnic or inter-ethnic ties and networks, and their importance to enter the labor market and move up. In the field of migration studies, concepts like integration and assimilation have greatly influenced the thinking of its scholars. The idea that newcomers only become fully integrated in a society when they gain a similar economic position and are in contact with people without migration background, or, in other words, become part of the mainstream, has been a strong and dominant view in our field (Alba & Nee, 2003; Alba, 2009; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001; Portes & Zhou, 1993). People who largely interact with co-ethnics and or work in labor market sectors that are dominated by co-ethnics (ethnic niches) are usually seen as not (yet) fully integrated into their new society. And when this also translates to the native-born children (so-called ‘second generation decline’), this is seen as problematic (Ganz, 1992). In this broader framework on integration and assimilation, Granovetter’s (1973) idea of strong and weak ties has entered the field of migration studies. Lang and Schneider, in this volume, rightly state that it is questionable whether the idea of strong ties – for co-ethnics – and weak ties – for ties with people without migration background – was originally intended by Granovetter to be used in this way. But what is clear, however, is that this idea fitted perfectly with broader theories on integration and assimilation. The importance for newly arrived migrants of strong co-ethnic ties in ethnic networks is generally considered one of the starting pieces of the puzzle laying out the process of assimilation in its first phase. The idea of weak ties, also in its symbolic emphasis on ‘weak’, perfectly suited the still scarce and superficial contacts with people of native descent in the early stages of the assimilation process. Since the concept of weak and strong ties fitted so well with the dominant theories about integration and assimilation (classical, neo and new assimilation), much of what was happening with migrants, and even their descendants, in the labor market was seen through, what many would call, an ethnic lens (Crul, 2016; Dahinden, 2016; Wimmer, 2013). Migrants gained a first foothold in the labor market through strong co-ethnic ties and were slowly moving up through their weak ties, making use of information and resources of people of native descent with whom they had only superficial contact. The idea of strong ties also resonated with the notion that their relations with co-ethnics were more meaningful and profound. There was also a dark side to strong ties. Under some conditions, because of the limited information and resources in the co-ethnic network, for some the strong ties could lead to an ethnic mobility trap.

The current literature shows that both absolute and relative income are important for happiness, but there is little work emphasising how the strength of the relationship is dependent on personal and social factors. I hypothesise that social connectedness influences the money-happiness relationship because the effect of money is in part felt through the acquisition of social status, whereas status (and associated psychological benefits such as self-worth) can alternatively be gained through social connectedness. In particular, it is theorised that ‘weak ties’ when co-existing with good quality informal ties have a separable and additional benefit to subjective well-being, and that it is the socially isolated who have the most to gain from doing well financially. Social connectedness is conceptualised as a ‘resilience resource’ which has a buffering effect on subjective well-being. Data from the British Household Panel Survey are used, first to establish a measurement schema of connectedness using latent class analysis, and secondly in a multilevel model of life satisfaction with observations from seven consecutive years nested within individuals. The results show that connectedness makes a larger difference to satisfaction in times of financial stress, and that the satisfaction of the socially isolated can ‘catch up’ to some degree with those with larger networks when things are going well financially. The findings also confirm that those for whom money makes the smallest contribution to happiness are those with both strong and weak ties. Weak ties have an additional benefit compared to having strong ties alone. In summary, connectedness has the power to narrow the well-being gap that exists between times of financial struggle and times of relative comfort. It suggests that the psychological benefits of social integration have the capacity to displace money as a source of status and self-worth, and similarly that the importance of money may be exaggerated where these psychological gains are not available through other domains of life.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11205-014-0858-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Location-based social networks integrate location-based facilities with social connectivity for delivering a variety of services, enhancing user experience, emergency/disaster management, and streamlining business processes. A number of recent research efforts have studied relationships between geolocation and social connectivity, social connectivity and preferences, and node attributes and strength of social ties. These efforts have successfully demonstrated prediction of various attributes based on social connectivity, mobility, dynamic checkin information, etc., including prediction of user location as well as future checkin locations. In this paper, we study the relationship between shared checkin locations and the structure and nature of social ties. We argue that typical LSBNs are in fact composed of layers of networks of varying structure and function and that it is possible to deconcolve these networks through effective statistical analysis of shared checkins. In this context, we pose and validate the following hypotheses: (1) A large number of shared checkins imply social connectivity; however, social connectivity does not imply statistically large number of shared checkins; (2) entities in social ties that share a large number of checkins tend to be strongly clustered. We hypothesize that such strong ties (e.g., family ties and friendships) carry higher influence compared to weaker ties (mere acquaintances) in the social network; (3) social ties that have statistically fewer shared checkins (weak ties) tend to be less clustered than the underlying (baseline) network. We hypothesize that such ties (e.g., professional ties, friends of friends, and acquaintances) carry less influence; and (4) social ties that have statistically large number of shared checkins (strong ties) tend to be relatively more dynamic when compared to weak ties over a period of time. We present statistical models and validate our hypotheses on real datasets. Our conclusions can significantly enhance flow of information and influence in the network by suitably leveraging the distinct relationships captured in the deconvolved networks.

Recent years have seen a surge of research on social recommendation techniques for improving recommender systems due to the growing influence of social networks to our daily life. The intuition of social recommendation is that users tend to show affinities with items favored by their social ties due to social influence. Despite the extensive studies, no existing work has attempted to distinguish and learn the personalized preferences between strong and weak ties, two important terms widely used in social sciences, for each individual in social recommendation. In this paper, we first highlight the importance of different types of ties in social relations originated from social sciences, and then propose anovel social recommendation method based on a new Probabilistic Matrix Factorization model that incorporates the distinction of strong and weak ties for improving recommendation performance. The proposed method is capable of simultaneously classifying different types of social ties in a social network w.r.t. optimal recommendation accuracy, and learning a personalized tie type preference for each user in addition to other parameters. We conduct extensive experiments on four real-world datasets by comparing our method with state-of-the-art approaches, and find encouraging results that validate the efficacy of the proposed method in exploiting the personalized preferences of strong and weak ties for social recommendation.

Granovetter’s weak tie theory of social networks is built around two central hypotheses. The first states that strong social ties carry the large majority of interaction events; the second maintains that weak social ties, although less active, are often relevant for the exchange of especially important information (e.g., about potential new jobs in Granovetter’s work). While several empirical studies have provided support for the first hypothesis, the second has been the object of far less scrutiny. A possible reason is that it involves notions relative to the nature and importance of the information that are hard to quantify and measure, especially in large scale studies. Here, we search for empirical validation of both Granovetter’s hypotheses. We find clear empirical support for the first. We also provide empirical evidence and a quantitative interpretation for the second. We show that attention, measured as the fraction of interactions devoted to a particular social connection, is high on weak ties—possibly reflecting the postulated informational purposes of such ties—but also on very strong ties. Data from online social media and mobile communication reveal network-dependent mixtures of these two effects on the basis of a platform’s typical usage. Our results establish a clear relationships between attention, importance, and strength of social links, and could lead to improved algorithms to prioritize social media content.

Tie strength is an essential concept in identifying different kind of social ties - strong ties and weak ties. Most present studies that evaluated tie strength from social media were carried out in a controlled environment and used private/closed social media data. Even though social media has become a very important way of networking in professional events, access to such private social media data in those events is almost impossible. There is very limited research on how to facilitate networking between event participants and especially on how to automate this networking aspect in events using social media. Tie strength evaluated using social media will be key in automating this process of networking. To create such tie strength based event participant recommendation systems and tools in the future, first, we need to understand how to evaluate tie strength using publicly available social media data. The purpose of this study is to evaluate tie strength from publicly available social media data in the context of a professional event. Our case study environment is community managers’ online discussions in social media (Twitter and Facebook) about the CMAD2016 event in Finland. In this work, we analyzed social media data from that event to evaluate tie strength and compared the social media analysis-based findings with the individuals’ perceptions of the actual tie strengths of the event participants using a questionnaire. We present our findings and conclude with directions for future work.

Although tie strength is a significant theoretical concept in the field, recent work suggests that other dimensions of social ties may be important to consider. We build on this body of work to propose that situational forms of engagement with various interaction partners play a vital role in shaping feelings of loneliness. We anticipate that when engaging in direct forms of engagement (active engagement), the association between different types of social ties and loneliness will be minimal. In contrast, while engaging in less direct forms of engagement (passive engagement), the type of social tie may matter more in reducing loneliness. We test these expectations using original time-diary data capturing daily interactions and momentary feelings of loneliness. Results show that active engagement associates with reduced feelings of loneliness relative to passive engagement. We find that the benefit of active engagement over passive engagement is greatest among acquaintances and family members. We interpret this as indicating that active engagement is beneficial for establishing a sense of connection among some social ties that already exists for other social ties. These findings indicate that how we engage with others and the kinds of people we engage with jointly shape the benefits of social interaction.