2010, the year of Social Networks…thanks Mr Granovetter!
Unanimously, the newspapers named in 2010 as one of the hegemony of social networks. It makes me want to highlight a man who influences me a lot: Mark Granovetter. Major player in the New Economic Sociology, he has put forward the role of advocacy in the economy and especially of social networks. For him, economic actions exist merely inserted in networks of interpersonal relationships (concept of embeddedness ). By 1974, in one of his first articles ( Getting a job ), it shows that people seeking employment preference information they get from their personal networks rather than through formal channels (which is also true today and that is the prerogative of network type Linked’in). It highlights that social networks are based on the logic of belonging, and community norm of reciprocity as a central axis with the notion of trust ( So think today when you share your photos evenings and other times of your life, you leave with a sense of trust with your network). He studied natural modes of social relations between agents and then defines the strength of ties as “a combination of accumulated time, emotional intensity and reciprocal services that characterize the relationship.” The individuals are maintaining a myriad of links but they are not all of the same nature and do not provide the same benefits. These links can be strong (eg friends, family) or low (the friend of an acquaintance or someone you meet once or 2). Weak ties provide access to information and knowledge beyond the familiar social circle, strong ties are sources of security. Even though I know that I take issue vis-à-vis some of my former colleagues, I am convinced that the strength of social networking today (like Facebook) can maintain strong links (most of which disappeared over time with distance or other life event) to develop strong ties (by regular exchanges very creative sense, of confidence with an emotional commitment) and create weak ties more easily (by sending a message or other interaction infrequent) acting as a “sociological glue. Mark thank you for all these works that illuminate our understanding of the strength of social networks.
