Connections, Relationships and Networks

Connections, Relationships, and Networks

• Humans need to interact with each other and are interconnected.
• People connect to share, learn, and create happiness for themselves and others.
• Humans seek social bonds and suffer when these are broken.
• Connection gives meaning and vitality, sometimes anguish.
• Social connection involves feeling loved, cared for, and valued, forming the basis for interpersonal relationships.
• Connection energy exists when people feel seen, heard, and valued and can give/receive without judgment, deriving sustenance and strength from the relationship.
• Social connection is vital core human need.

Relationships

• Social relation is between two or more individuals.
• It derives from individual agency forming social structure and a basic object for analysis by social scientists.
• Social relationships can exist without communication.
• Forms of relation and interaction include: animal-like behaviors (physical movements), actions with meaning/purpose, and social behaviors soliciting a response from another agent.

Networks

• Network is a sociological concept for a set of social relations between network elements that interact, especially individuals.
• Networks can include social groups, teams, organizational units, or whole organizations.
• Networks describe a social structure determined by interactions.
• Ties connecting social units represent the convergence of social contacts.
• Relationships are networked, and networks are pervasive.
• The brain's cellular network enables human life.
• Organizations and institutions increase radical connectedness with networks, partners, and alliances to compete and create value significantly.

Characteristics of a Network

• Hierarchy: Actors invest in diverse groups rather than solely within their own.
• Interdependence: Network ties facilitate change/reform, cooperation, and social capital.
• Embeddedness: Relates to an individual's family, friends, and acquaintances.

Communication and Collaboration

• Strong connections, relationships, and networks require communication and collaboration skills.
• Communication and collaboration are interpersonal skills for effective teamwork and also can encompass verbal and non-verbal cues
• Skills include building shared understanding, negotiating outcomes, and cultivating trust.

Social Network

• A social network is a group of people with whom people interact with daily.
• It is a social structure composed of social actors, dyadic ties, and interactions.
• Social network analysis identifies patterns, influential entities, and network dynamics.
• Social network analysis involves interdisciplinary academic fields, from social psychology, sociology, statistics, and graph theory.
• Georg Simmel studied triads and group affiliations.
• Jacob Moreno developed sociograms to study interpersonal relationships beginning in the 1930s.
• Theories/methods became widespread by the 1980s and are now a major paradigm in contemporary sociology and network science.

Network Analysis

• Networks are analyzed focusing on density, hierarchy, multiplexity, interdependence, and embeddedness.
• Density: Based on the number of connections, the higher the number, the denser the system for actors.
• Complexity: Link extent serves interests in the community, with more complex relations indicating the higher tie strength.
• Interdependence: Social ties in a community produce cooperation, social capital, and benefits.
• Embeddedness: Networks of relations include family, friends, and acquaintances.

Self and Social Networks

• The social context of a person, group, or community can be considered an aggregation of individuals.
• Communication patterns make up the communication/social network, which define who communicates with whom.
• Communication links constitute direct and indirect ties between people.
• A communication link or tie is the interpersonal communication between two parties.
• Tie strength depends on use frequency and multiplexity.
• Granovetter, in 1973, defined strength as a combination of invested time, emotional intensity, intimacy, and reciprocal services characterizing the tie.
• Social networks may provide emotional comfort/self-esteem, financial/material aid, information/advice, and assistance, with benefits arising from tailoring support to the problem.
• Social support can be received with or without direct exchange.
• The mere perception of being liked or supported benefits morale and lessens impacts of stress.
• Support can protect mental and physical health even with unawareness.
• Invisible support protects loved ones by preventing exposure to known stressors, thus supportive functions function as intangible but effective means of maintaining well-being.