Specific Social Network Research Articles

The impact of social networks on health care

Our work examines the risks and benefits stemming from the evolution of Social Network Services (SNSs) in the healthcare domain. More specifically, we study the impact of specific health-oriented social networks such as PatientsLikeMe. Social networks evolved to a ubiquitous part of daily life and WEB 2.0 paved the way for the internet to be used as a method of interactive communication and information immersion. Health SNSs have the strength to influence healthcare services delivery and information availability supported by emerging technologies which track, gather and quantify real-time medical data from patients. SNSs support publicly provided information to patients, offering them the power not only to educate themselves but take part in the decision-making process of their health. On the other hand, healthcare stakeholders have gained access to new information which can help to cut costs, progress research, and improve the healthcare system. However, apart from the unambiguous benefits of SNSs, several risks are identified such as patient confidentiality violation. By incorporating the volumes of data collected by websites like PatientsLikeMe and other WEB 2.0 applications, the patient–industry partnership could ensure better products at lesser costs. Web 3.0 is the next step toward a heath care eco-system which will evolve out of micro-contributions creating the most accurate representations of medicine for the stakeholders.

Theorizing the Social Structural Foundations of Adaptation and Transformation in Social-Ecological Systems

Social networks are frequently cited as vital for facilitating successful adaptation and transformation in linked social-ecological systems to overcome pressing resource management challenges. Yet confusion remains over the precise nature of adaptation versus transformation, and the specific social network structures that facilitate these processes. Here we adopt a network perspective to theorize a continuum of structural capacities in social-ecological systems that set the stage for effective adaptation and transformation. We begin by drawing on the resilience literature and the multilayered action situation to link processes of change in social-ecological systems to decision making across multiple layers of rules underpinning societal organization. We then present a framework that hypotheses seven specific social-ecological network configurations that lay the structural foundation necessary for facilitating adaptation and transformation, given the type and magnitude of human action required. A key contribution of the framework is explicit consideration of how social networks relate to ecological structures and the particular environmental problem at hand. Of the seven configurations identified, three are linked to capacities conducive for adaptation and three to transformation, while one is hypothesized to be important for facilitating both processes. We discuss how our theoretical framework can be applied in practice by highlighting existing empirical examples from related environmental governance contexts. Further extension of our hypotheses, particularly as more data become available, can ultimately help guide the design of institutional arrangements more effective at dealing with change.

Variations in Social Network Type Membership Among Older African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and Non-Hispanic Whites.

This study examined race differences in the probability of belonging to a specific social network typology of family, friends, and church members. Samples of African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites aged 55+ were drawn from the National Survey of American Life. Typology indicators related to social integration and negative interactions with family, friendship, and church networks were used. Latent class analysis was used to identify typologies, and latent class multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the influence of race, and interactions between race and age, and race and education on typology membership. Four network typologies were identified: optimal (high social integration, low negative interaction), family-centered (high social integration within primarily the extended family network, low negative interaction), strained (low social integration, high negative interaction), and ambivalent (high social integration and high negative interaction). Findings for race and age and race and education interactions indicated that the effects of education and age on typology membership varied by race. Overall, the findings demonstrate how race interacts with age and education to influence the probability of belonging to particular network types. A better understanding of the influence of race, education, and age on social network typologies will inform future research and theoretical developments in this area.

A call for innovative social media research in the field of augmentative and alternative communication

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) social media research is relatively new, and is built on a foundation of research on use of the Internet and social media by people with communication disabilities. Although the field is expanding to include a range of people who use AAC, there are limitations and gaps in research that will need to be addressed in order to keep pace with the rapid evolution of social media connectivity in assistive communication technologies. In this paper, we consider the aims, scope, and methodologies of AAC social media research, with a focus on social network sites. Lack of detailed attention to specific social network sites and little use of social media data limits the extent to which findings can be confirmed. Increased use of social media data across a range of platforms, including Instagram and YouTube, would provide important insights into the lives of people who use AAC and the ways in which they and their supporters use social media. New directions for AAC social media research are presented in line with those discussed at the social media research symposium at the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Toronto, Canada, on August 12, 2016.

A Novel Centrality Cascading Based Edge Parameter Evaluation Method for Robust Influence Maximization

The research of social influence is an important topic in online social network analysis. Influence maximization is the problem of finding $k$ nodes that maximize the influence spread in a specific social network. Robust influence maximization is a novel topic that focuses on the uncertainty factors among the influence propagation models and algorithms. It aims to find a seed set with a definite size that has robust performance with different influence functions under various uncertainty factors. In this paper, we propose a centrality-based edge activation probability evaluation method in the independent cascade model. We consider four different types of centrality measurement methods and add a modification coefficient to evaluate the edge probability. We also propose two algorithms, called NewDiscount and GreedyCIC, by incorporating the edge probability space into previous algorithms. With extensive experiments on various real online social network data sets, we find that our PageRank-based greedy algorithm has the best influence spreads and lowest running times, compared with other algorithms, on some large data sets. The experiment for evaluating the robustness performance shows that all algorithms have optimal robustness performance when the modification coefficient is set to 0.01 under the independent cascade model. This result suggests some further research directions under this model.

The social structural foundations of adaptation and transformation in social–ecological systems

Barnes, M. L., Ö. Bodin, A. M. Guerrero, R. J. McAllister, S. M. Alexander, and G. Robins. 2017. The social structural foundations of adaptation and transformation in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society 22(4):16. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09769-220416

Travelling Spirits, Localizing Roots: Transnationalisms, Home and Generation among Portuguese-Canadians in British Columbia

The objective of this article is to address the relation between transnationalism and intergenerational transformations of the notions of home and belonging. While doing an ethnographic research in Vancouver, British Columbia, it was possible to pinpoint the existence of two discourses about Portuguese-Canadian ethnicity. The first one, centered on the Holy Ghost festivals, (re)produces an idea of ‘azoreanness’, albeit fragmented along the islands of origin, and is linked to specific social networks that go from Vancouver to the Azores. It is essentially fostered by the migrants that arrived in the region after the 1950s and to whom the festas are a constant reminder of the emotional, symbolic and social ties with these Atlantic Islands. The second discourse is fostered by the children of these migrants, which moved away from the Holy Ghost festas and the Portuguese Catholic Parish, and is centered on a notion of portugueseness. This enactment of a national identity has to be interpreted in the context of Canadian multicultural politics and specific diasporic politics developed by the Portuguese authorities in the region. Simultaneously, this second discourse is also part and parcel of an intergenerational social mobility process. Based on this ethnographic case study, this article has two main arguments: on one hand, I want to show how home and homeland are fields of struggle for hegemonic representation in the public domain and and on the other hand how such debates have to be interpreted in relation to local and transnational political contexts and subjectivities.

Blood hero: An application for encouraging the blood donation by applying gamification.

There is a strong need for actions to supply the blood demand in the World. Based on this fact, it was designed an application, named `Blood Hero', by applying the `gamification' concept, which allows users to be rewarded by social acts related to the blood donation. It takes advantage of the application of mobile devices, implementing a specific social network, to attract and retain blood donators. This application makes possible an interaction between users and blood centers, and is being tested aiming at evaluating its acceptance and impact in bloodstocks.

Transfer Learning to Infer Social Ties across Heterogeneous Networks

Interpersonal ties are responsible for the structure of social networks and the transmission of information through these networks. Different types of social ties have essentially different influences on people. Awareness of the types of social ties can benefit many applications, such as recommendation and community detection. For example, our close friends tend to move in the same circles that we do, while our classmates may be distributed into different communities. Though a bulk of research has focused on inferring particular types of relationships in a specific social network, few publications systematically study the generalization of the problem of predicting social ties across multiple heterogeneous networks. In this work, we develop a framework referred to as TranFG for classifying the type of social relationships by learning across heterogeneous networks. The framework incorporates social theories into a factor graph model, which effectively improves the accuracy of predicting the types of social relationships in a target network by borrowing knowledge from a different source network. We also present several active learning strategies to further enhance the inferring performance. To scale up the model to handle really large networks, we design a distributed learning algorithm for the proposed model. We evaluate the proposed framework (TranFG) on six different networks and compare with several existing methods. TranFG clearly outperforms the existing methods on multiple metrics. For example, by leveraging information from a coauthor network with labeled advisor-advisee relationships, TranFG is able to obtain an F1-score of 90% (8%--28% improvements over alternative methods) for predicting manager-subordinate relationships in an enterprise email network. The proposed model is efficient. It takes only a few minutes to train the proposed transfer model on large networks containing tens of thousands of nodes.

Social Network and Mental Health Among Older Adults in Rural Uttar Pradesh, India: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The rapid growth of the older population in India draws attention to the factors that contribute to their changing health realities. However, there has hardly been any study in India that has looked at the effects of specific social networks with children, relatives, friends and confidant on depression among older adults. The objective of the study is to investigate the association between social network and depression among the rural elderly. The study population comprised over 630 older adults (aged 60 and above) from the rural areas of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. We adopted Berkman's theoretical model of the impact of social relations on depression among the elderly in the Indian context. Results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) demonstrated that the four specific social network types: children, relatives, friends and confidant were tenable. The results showed that a better social network with 'friends/neighbours' was protective against depression among the rural elderly. This clearly points to the need for more social network centres for older adults, so that they can interact with friends within the community or between communities and participate in group activities.

The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

ABSTRACTDespite important variations in regional family systems, little research has been done to assess the effects of these differences on fertility and thus on families’ economic status. Even less attention has been paid to the effects of deviating from these regionally embedded norms in terms of network compositions. People's social networks may not conform to the region's view of the ideal family, while this could have important implications for their fertility behaviour. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper aims to answer two questions: to what extent do family systems shape family size, and to what extent do deviations from regional family system norms in terms of social network composition result in differences in completed fertility? To answer these questions, we use the first two waves of the ‘Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement’ and derive indicators describing regional family systems and people's social networks. We test the influence of these covariates on the completed fertility of cohorts born between 1920 and 1960 in 13 European countries. Our results show that family system norms, and deviations from them in terms of specific social networks, play an important role in determining family size.

The Thing about Replicas—Why Historic Replicas Matter

Reproduction of archaeological material was a significant and serious enterprise for antiquarians and museums in the long nineteenth century. Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy. Behind their creation, circulation, use, and after-life lies a series of specific social networks and relationships that determined why, when, and in what circumstances they were valued, or not. Summarising the context of their production, circulation, and changing fortunes, this article introduces the ways in which replicas are important, and considers the specific benefits and aspects of a biographical approach to their study. Beyond the evidential, the study of existing replicas provides a historical and contemporary laboratory in which to explore the concepts of value and authenticity, and their application in cultural heritage and collections management, offering us a richer insight into the history of ourselves as archaeologists and curators.

Characterizing interactions in online social networks during exceptional events

Nowadays, millions of people interact on a daily basis on online social media like Facebook and Twitter, where they share and discuss information about a wide variety of topics. In this paper, we focus on a specific online social network, Twitter, and we analyze multiple datasets each one consisting of individuals' online activity before, during and after an exceptional event in terms of volume of the communications registered. We consider important events that occurred in different arenas that range from policy to culture or science. For each dataset, the users' online activities are modeled by a multilayer network in which each layer conveys a different kind of interaction, specifically: retweeting, mentioning and replying. This representation allows us to unveil that these distinct types of interaction produce networks with different statistical properties, in particular concerning the degree distribution and the clustering structure. These results suggests that models of online activity cannot discard the information carried by this multilayer representation of the system, and should account for the different processes generated by the different kinds of interactions. Secondly, our analysis unveils the presence of statistical regularities among the different events, suggesting that the non-trivial topological patterns that we observe may represent universal features of the social dynamics on online social networks during exceptional events.

Estrategias y realidades en la difusión de las redes sociales en las administraciones públicas. Análisis desde una perspectiva institucionalista

Este estudio pretende responder a varias preguntas de investigación en relación con el desarrollo de las herramientas Web 2.0 en la administración pública: ¿Cuáles son las principales estrategias planteadas para el fomento de las redes sociales? ¿Cuál es el nivel de desarrollo en el proceso de implementación de las redes sociales? ¿Cuál es el papel de las instituciones en las dinámicas de difusión tecnológica asociadas a las redes sociales dentro del sector público? Este artículo analiza la difusión de las redes sociales en las administraciones de las comunidades autónomas en España desde una perspectiva institucionalista. Esta corriente teórica pone el acento en el papel de las instituciones en el ámbito organizativo y trata de explicar las dinámicas de difusión tecnológica en las organizaciones a partir del estudio de las instituciones. Lo anterior se desarrolla en este artículo mediante el estudio de varias dimensiones sobre la difusión de las redes sociales en las administraciones objeto de estudio, entre otras, los años de experiencia de uso, los equipos humanos que los gestionan, la existencia o no de guías de uso que normalicen los criterios para su correcta utilización, la existencia o no de algún tipo de política y/o estrategia formal y las redes sociales específicas que las administraciones emplean. Metodológicamente, este trabajo está basado en un cuestionario enviado a los responsables de la gestión de las redes sociales de las administraciones regionales españolas. Esta investigación muestra que todavía no existe un diseño estratégico generalizado de las tecnologías sociales en las administraciones públicas analizadas o que existen variaciones de calado en la implantación de las mismas tecnologías. En cierta medida, ello sugiere la existencia de factores institucionales que explican los diferentes patrones de utilización en las organizaciones objeto de estudio. En suma, este artículo ofrece un análisis exhaustivo, si bien exploratorio, sobre el proceso de difusión de las redes sociales en las administraciones públicas.

Evaluación de necesidades y expectativas ante la construcción de un espacio interactivo de comunicación, información y aprendizaje histórico-educativo

Conscientes de las posibilidades pedagógicas, participativas y de colaboración científica de la Web 2.0, los autores del presente artículo se plantean la detección de las necesidades y expectativas hacia la creación de una plataforma virtual delimitada por un espacio interactivo o red social para la Historia de la Educación y el Patrimonio Histórico-educativo. Gracias a la evaluación mediante un cuestionario en el que han participado un grupo de expertos docentes e investigadores de Historia de la Educación, se han obtenido una serie de conclusiones a tener en cuenta respecto a determinados aspectos (conocimiento y uso, expectativas, componentes, etc.) que orientarán la construcción ad hoc de dicha plataforma. Es relevante el poco conocimiento y uso de las redes sociales tanto genéricas como específicas, así como otro tipo de aplicaciones web. Destaca, por otro lado, que la edad de los participantes no ha condicionado la importancia percibida sobre las capacidades de las TIC para el desarrollo en la docencia y la investigación.

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF BUSINESS SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR ORGANIZATIONS

This article explores the relationship between communication, with the emphasis on public relations, and social network perspectives. What, then, does social networking for business mean in communication, particularly in public relations? This paper argues that business social networking play an important role in improving organizations communications. The goal of our paper is to identify the basic characteristics of social networks and its role for public relations for the effective implementation of social networking initiatives and tools in the workplace. Business social networking tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn are being used by organizations to reach the corporate objectives and to create a positive company image. Specific social networks, such the personalised networks of influence, are perceived to be one of the main strategic resources for organizations.

Comparison of P2P Social Network Architectures

In recent years, online social networks have become very popular. Online social networks (OSN) have been useful to find former classmates or to improve our interaction with friends. Thus, a huge amount of information is generated and consumed by millions of people in these types of networks. Currently, most popular online social networks are based on centralized servers, whom are responsible management and storage all the information. Although the benefits of social networks are well known to most of us, these networks still have many challenges such as scalability, privacy or dependence. In this work, we evaluate P2P infrastructures as alternative platform for developing decentralized online social networks. In particular, we simulate and evaluate a specific social network called Tribler on two types of P2P architectures: super-peer and distributed. Our results shown that OSN based on super-peer reaches best download time than OSN based on a distributed P2P architecture.

Shark personalities? Repeatability of social network traits in a widely distributed predatory fish

Interest in animal personalities has generated a burgeoning literature on repeatability in individual traits such as boldness or exploration through time or across different contexts. Yet, repeatability can be influenced by the interactive social strategies of individuals, for example, consistent inter-individual variation in aggression is well documented. Previous work has largely focused on the social aspects of repeatability in animal behaviour by testing individuals in dyadic pairings. Under natural conditions, individuals interact in a heterogeneous polyadic network. However, the extent to which there is repeatability of social traits at this higher order network level remains unknown. Here, we provide the first empirical evidence of consistent and repeatable animal social networks. Using a model species of shark, a taxonomic group in which repeatability in behaviour has yet to be described, we repeatedly quantified the social networks of ten independent shark groups across different habitats, testing repeatability in individual network position under changing environments. To understand better the mechanisms behind repeatable social behaviour, we also explored the coupling between individual preferences for specific group sizes and social network position. We quantify repeatability in sharks by demonstrating that despite changes in aggregation measured at the group level, the social network position of individuals is consistent across treatments. Group size preferences were found to influence the social network position of individuals in small groups but less so for larger groups suggesting network structure, and thus, repeatability was driven by social preference over aggregation tendency.

Did the Subaltern Speak? Mayhew and the coster-girl

This essay focuses on some of Mayhew's interviews in London Labour and the London Poor, and especially his interview with one coster-girl. Do these sources express the lived experience of a speaking subject; or do they merely rehearse contemporary cultural and linguistic codes? There is no subject without language; language precedes and determines the subject, but nor is there language without subjects. Language exists only insofar as individuals and groups utilize it, reproduce it and transform it – and always within specific social relations and networks of power and in a relentlessly material world. Mayhew's writings provide a wonderful resource to explore some of these complex struggles over meaning – in a precise time and place.

Social Networks Influence Hispanic College Women's HPV Vaccine Uptake Decision-Making Processes

This qualitative study was designed to assess current and preferred social networks that influence human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine decision-making in a sample of Hispanic college women. Individual, semistructured interviews were conducted with 41 Hispanic college women attending a large southeastern Hispanic-serving institution. Television commercials and discussions with mothers were found to be the most influential social networks for current HPV vaccination beliefs. Internet sites, close family members, and healthcare providers’ communications were preferred social networks for HPV vaccine information. Perceived accessibility and sense of comfort influenced the order in which these social networks’ communications would be accepted. Findings suggest that Hispanic college women utilize specific social networks to gather information and make decisions about HPV vaccination. Continued efforts are needed to promote further understanding of the purpose of the HPV vaccine via these preferred sources of information.