Importance Of Weak Ties Research Articles

Weak Ties That Bind: ICT Use, Social Relations, and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults

Information and communication technology (ICT) use has been associated with well-being among older adults. This link is often attributed to the fact that technology use facilitates connecting with social relations generally. What is less known, however, is the extent to which distinct dimensions of social relations uniquely influence how ICT use affects health. Thus, the importance of weak ties is receiving increased attention. Using data from the Detroit-based Social Relations Study collected in 2015, we examine the extent to which separate dimensions of weak ties (contact frequency and network size) mediate and moderate the link between technology use and depressive symptoms among adults age 65+ (n=213). A greater number of less close relations mediated the link as it was associated with technology use and fewer depressive symptoms. A moderating effect was also found as technology use was associated with fewer depressive symptoms only among those with lower contact frequency.

The “strength of weak ties” and helminth parasitism in giraffe social networks

The so-called strength of weak is a central concept in social network theory, especially for understanding how information and diseases are transmitted through socially structured populations. In general, weak ties occur in networks where relatively few individuals are responsible for maintaining linkages between groups of individuals that would otherwise be poorly connected. This common structural motif can be seen in the social networks of species with fission–fusion social organization, such as giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). Giraffe social networks are characterized by social cliques in which individuals associate more with members of their own social clique than with those outside their clique. Individuals involved in weak, between-clique social interactions are hypothesized to serve as bridges by which an infection may enter a clique and, hence, may experience higher infection risk. Here, we address this and other hypotheses explaining helminth infection patterns in wild giraffe, exploring the relative roles of the social network and ranging behavior in determining infection risk. We show that infection risk is more influenced by weak ties with individuals outside one’s clique than by repeated contact with a core set of associates. Even when controlling for age and home range size, individuals who engaged in more between-clique associations, that is, those with multiple weak ties, were more likely to be infected with gastrointestinal helminth parasites. Our results suggest that diverse social interactions with giraffe from multiple cliques may increase exposure to pathogens. The importance of weak ties in pathogen transmission has only rarely been empirically demonstrated in wildlife.

Lifespan and propagation of information in On-line Social Networks: A case study based on Reddit

Since 1950, information flows have been in the center of scientific research. Up until the Internet penetration in the late 1990s, these information flow studies were based on traditional offline social networks. From the first Online Social Network studies, various observations of “offline” information flows, such as the two-step flow of communication and the importance of weak ties, were verified in several “online” studies, also indicating that information flows from one Online Social Network (OSN) to several others. Within that flow, information is shared with and reproduced, by users of each network. Furthermore, the original content is enhanced or weakened according to its topic, as well as the dynamic nature and exposure of each Online Social Networks (OSNs). In such an informational connected environment, each OSN is considered as a layer of information flows, which interacts with other layers. We examine information flows in several social networks, as well as their diffusion and lifespan, across these networks, based on user-generated content. Our results verify the information connection in various OSNs and provide a measurement of shared information lifetime in multiple OSNs.

Over-education among Immigrants in Europe: The Value of Civic Involvement

The present study investigates the effect of social connectedness through associational involvement on over-education among immigrants in 19 European societies, addressing the often-claimed importance of weak ties. Based on the idea that the effectiveness of social networks in distributing relevant information may depend on the degree to which such networks are linked to other networks, it thereby specifically distinguishes between associations that are connected to the wider community and those that are rather isolated. Using pooled individual-level data from the European Social Survey, empirical analyses indeed reveal active participation in associations to be related to lower risk of experiencing over-education. Moreover, the effect appears type specific, indicating access to multiple associations which are widely connected to different parts of society to be of particular benefit, especially in case of more recent migration.

The Anthropology of Anarchy

Anarchy as a concept and anarchism as a theory are examined in relation to their bearing on anthropological theory. After reviewing the historical aspects of th relationship between anarchism and anthropology, and after looking at some anthropological literature with an anarchist orientation, the paper analyses actual instances of anarchic communities and outlines their epistemological consequences. Important questions like how do people produce equality and how do they manage to cohere in an anarchic communitty are raised and addressed in the the next section. Three main topics are discussed regarding these questions ; values (such as compassion), personal relations (marked by immediacy and intense familiarity, and sharing as opposed to reciprocity).Lasltly, a crucial factor is examined : the importance of weak ties and their possible evolutionary role.

Bridging and bonding forms of social capital in a regional strategic network

Research on networks emphasizes the importance of bonds between actors. Social reciprocity strengthens network bonds, which is assumed to have positive effects on business relationships between firms. However, the importance of weak ties is also stressed in network research. An important policy issue is therefore if more attention should be devoted to the creation of bridges to other social groups and loosening bonds between network actors. The difficulty in doing so is described and analyzed in this article focusing on a regional strategic network, which is viewed in three network perspectives. Interview data were collected from all participating managers in a regional strategic network in 2004 and 2010. The findings shed light upon the paradox of using a regional strategic network to counteract over-embeddedness and freeing the involved actors from existing network lock-ins instead of further strengthening such social institutions.

Symposium 6: Design of a Networked Learning Master Environment for Professionals – using the approach of problem based learning to establish a community of practice

The paper is presenting the overall learning design of MIL (Master in ICT and Learning). The learning design is integrating the principles of: 1. Problem and project based learning 2. Networked learning / learning in communities of practice. The paper discusses how these principles interact productively in the design of a networked learning environment for professionals. The paper challenge the definition of networked learning focussing on connections. This definition has been important to throw light upon the importance of weak ties, and how much weak ties are used within networks. However in order to really use the potentials of the socio cultural understanding of learning as based in relationships and connections we need a stronger concept of networked learning as a socio-technical way of organising learning, which make learners interact, connect, engage, relate and collaborate on joint enterprises and activities, through both strong and weak ties, and to dynamically accumulate and rework concepts, artefacts and knowledge in a variety of forms and from a variety of sources. The MIL case based on problem and project based learning demonstrates how this understandings of networked learning can be organised for.MIL is based on a pragmatic concept of problem and project based learning adapted to the virtual conditions of networked learning. The MIL model incorporates a series of integrated didactical principles: problem formulation, enquiry of exemplary problems, participant control, joint projects, dialogues, interdisciplinary approaches, and action learning. The approach requires that students and teachers (facilitators, supervisors, lecturers, and professors) engage in a shared enterprise – a project - within the thematic framework of the semester. The study program is organised around two main activities: 1. course work in order to get insights of the core disciplines and to build up a shared repertoire and 2. project work, where the students engage in collaborative research projects – as a kind of shared enterprise. From a learning point of view the pedagogical principles of PBL facilitates as well the individual learner’s constructions of knowledge as well as the project group’s construction of shared understanding through negotiations, confrontations and identification. Further more previous research has shown, that PBL facilitates inter-dependencies among the busy professionals, which help them to prioritize the study of work and also to establish kinds of community of practice.

Networks in urban neighbourhoods: Lost, saved or liberated communities?

The article presents theories and empirical findings on social relations in urban neighbourhoods. It briefly puts the tradition of neighbourhood studies into the history of mainstream sociology, especially concerning the question of community. The overview of studies of locally based social relations is organized in terms of the hypotheses of urban communities as being lost, saved or liberated. The empirical material presented strongly favours the last of these. The article also deals with the processes of network‐formation and discusses the importance of weak ties in the neighbourhood.