Social Network Analysis: What are Social Networks?

Social networks are a way of describing systems composed of multiple elements that are related in some way. Each element, or node, may or may not have a relationship with the other nodes. Traditionally sociologists, managers or others who worked with groups would look at the attributes of the individual elements. Social Network Analysis looks at the relations between the elements.

The "social" in "social networks" is there because the most common type of node is a person and the most common type of relation is between people. Even though the most common use is between people, social networks are not limited to people. They are anything that can have a relationship with something else. People have made social network maps of synonyms for words, trade patterns in cities and even proteins in the human body.

In 1973 sociologist (and ISNAE cofounder) Mark Granovetter published a paper called "the Strength of Weak Ties," a paper that is now one of the most cited papers in sociology. In it, he described his research which showed that people get jobs, not from people close to them, but from casual acquaintances, "weak ties".

What seems to happen is that people form into groups where everyone talks to each other but they do not talk to people outside the group. That means that ones friends and people close to them probably know all the same people and job opportunities he or she does. To get new information a person has to go outside of the group he or she is usually in and thus a casual acquaintance, a weak tie, is often be the link that helps the person succeed.

These links can be "running into someone you used to work with you haven't seen for years," "meeting someone in a bank line," the list is endless. Social networks bridge the world with people working, attending school and communicating with each other in every country in the world. We are just a few links from almost anyone.

Popular wisdom says "it's not what you know, it's who you know." One often hears of "old boy networks." More and more articles are appearing in the business journals about the new networked way of doing business, where work is outsourced and your competitors in part of a business are partners in another. The excitement of Harry Potter travels from person to person. All of these are examples of social networks.

Businesses are social networks, markets are social networks, professional associations and much more are social networks.

Much of our day to day life is interaction with other people and the
patterns of interaction influence so much of the events around us.

Imagine that could understand and influence those patterns.
What is Social Network Analysis?

Social Network Analysis (SNA) is the set of techniques used to observe
social networks.

An example of creating a social network map is within an organization. A researcher might do a survey of the organization asking everyone: "Who are the people you are most likely to discuss technical information with?" "Who are the people you are most likely to go out with after work for a beer?" and other questions. The result will be a map of nodes (the individuals) and the relations "ask for technical information," "have a beer." The two maps are not usually the same. Interestingly, often the organizational map of the company will not have the same leader as the social network map discovers, which is a situation that must be managed.

Social network analysts look at disease transmission, terrorist networks, business networks, diffusion of innovation, formation of companies, tacit knowledge in organizations, communities, the WWW, international trade and much more.

Social Network Analysts collect the data, organize it in useful ways and see how the structure of the networks influences real world results. We can compare the structure of a healthy organization or an unhealthy one, of a healthy region to an unhealthy one a successful startup to an unsuccessful one. Even the social structure that an individual has set up for himself or herself can have tremendous influence on his or her life.

Only recently have the tools been available to analyze large sets of data as powerful computers have become common. New forms of communication and community from the Internet make data collection easier.

We are at the beginning being able to describe and influence the structure of human relationships.
What Difference Will it Make?

Economic activity takes place within social relations. When someone takes a taxi the rider has to trust the driver and the driver has to trust the ride will pay. There needs to be a balance of trust, obligation and novelty. If a business person makes a business decision based on friendship or obligation the results might not be as good. If people make decisions based only on the advice of those close to them, they may not get enough points of view to make the best decision. On the other hand, if a society is lawless and poor, the fear and lack of trust can make economic growth impossible as well.

Having accurate empirical information about the networks that work for successful startups, new product development, successful investments, successful organizations, successful communities, reaching new markets, and so much more will allow us to make better decisions and get the kind of results we would like.