How Social Networks Work: Overview of Network Properties

How Social Networks Work Dr. Pamela Rutledge Director Media Psychology Research Center Email: [email_address]

A Knowledge Society

Make It Simple with a System
Systems have rules about how information travels
Understanding is essential to supporting your social media goals

Fundamental Properties It’s the Relationships that Matter

Fundamental Properties
emerge
Collective Behaviors

Fundamental Properties Complex systems are self-organizing

Fundamental Properties Networks are dynamic

Fundamental Properties Dramatic change at thresholds

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about social networks?

What is a network?
A set of relationships (links) that connect people or objects (nodes)
Node Link $

Will the Nodes Be Connected?

The Small World Phenomenon Wow! What a Small World! I can’t believe you know my Aunt Betsy in Des Moines!

The Small World Studies

Who Do You Know… Omaha Boston

Who Do You Know Who Knows… Omaha Boston

What a Small World! Omaha Boston

Six Degrees of Separation
People are more likely to be connected if they have common attributes
Because of overlapping connections, the number of steps separating any two people in the world is six
2 3 4 5 1 6

Knowing and Connecting 2 3 1 First Order Zone Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth were both in the movie: Where the Truth Lies,1995

A Networked World Your Social Group: Fully Connected Network The Real World: Network of networks

How Information Spreads Weak Tie Weak Tie Weak Connector

Why LinkedIn Works Weak Tie Weak Tie Weak Connector

Thresholds and Tipping Points Number of links Tipping Point Saturation

Finding Your Audience
Growth in a network does not follow the familiar Bell curve
The Bell Curve measures random events

Power Law Distributions
80/20 Rule
The Pareto principle
The law of the few
Number of Links Number of Web Pages

Preference Premium
Choice creates the Super Nodes
Tendency toward agreement
Super Node

Information Facilitators or Power Law Beneficiaries? Salesmen Mavens or Enthusiasts Connectors

New Rules for Communication Old Model: One-to-Many New Model: Many-to-Many

Access is Easy, Strategy is Hard Potential Audience Your Organization

In a Nutshell
Accelerated communication
Continual evolution
Unique properties for change
Identifiable emergent behaviors
Weak connectors bridge networks
Super Nodes emerge as networks exhibit preferences

Try This
Identify your personal network
Characterize the types of connections, the demographics
Where do your most frequent connections happen?
? ? ? ?

Dr. Pamela Rutledge
Email : [email_address]
Thanks for listening!

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How Social Networks Work: Overview of Network Properties

by Pamela Rutledge on Feb 01, 2010

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