The aim of the present study is to analyze empirical researches on the social resources dimension of occupational status attainment process and relate them to the rational choice approach. The analysis suggests that the existing data on the strength of ties aspect of social resources is insufficient and does not allow any implication concerning rational actor’s behavior. However, the results co...

There is a widespread belief that ‘community’ has been greatly diminished in many areas, partly attributed to the isolation and weak social ties encouraged by modern technology such as television, computer games and the Internet. We explore a photo display application which may help to reinforcing the community’s values, support community ties and integrate individuals into the community.

We studied decentralized search in information networks and focused on the impact of network clustering on the findability of relevant information sources. We developed a multiagent system to simulate peer-to-peer networks, in which peers worked with one another to forward queries to targets containing relevant information, and evaluated the effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability of the dec...

A relationship between people's mobility and their social networks is presented based on an analysis of calling and mobility traces for one year of anonymized call detail records of over one million mobile phone users in Portugal. We find that about 80% of places visited are within just 20 km of their nearest (geographical) social ties' locations. This figure rises to 90% at a 'geo-social radiu...

From families to nations, what binds individuals in social groups is the degree to which they share beliefs, norms, and memories. While local clusters of communicating individuals can sustain shared memories and norms, communities characterized by isolated cliques are susceptible to information fragmentation and polarization dynamics. We employ experimental manipulations in lab-created communit...

This paper presents a perspective on the impact and use of new media that focuses on the strength of the interpersonal tie connecting communicators. Research shows that more strongly tied pairs communicate more frequently, maintain more and different kinds of relations, and use more media to communicate. It is argued that where ties are strong, communicators adapt their use of media and expand ...

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between virtuality and social capital. Does virtuality decrease the strength of individuals’ social ties? Or does virtuality increase social capital by expanding the range of individuals’ social networks? To address these questions, first, we identify the properties of virtuality, whose definition still varies in a variety of research s...

In this paper, we explore the idea of weak ties in networked learning. We go back to the original conception of the strength of weak ties (Granovetter 1973) and relate this to a dialogic understanding of networked learning (Koschmann 1999, Dysthe 2002). These theoretical ideas are applied to the examination of two networked settings in which educational leaders exchange ideas and have the poten...

this chapter I review empirical studies directly testing the hypotheses of m y 1973 paper " T h e Strength of Weak Ties" (hereafter "SWT") and work that elaborates those hypotheses theoretically or uses them to suggest new empirical research not discussed in my original formulation. Along the way, I will reconsider various aspects of the theoretical argument, attempt to plug some holes, and bro...