Managing everyday communication with strong, weak, and latent ties via WeChat: Availability, visibility, and reciprocal engagement

2021 ◽  
pp. 205015792098232
Author(s):  
Fiona Huijie Zeng Skovhøj
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Mobile Payment ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Interview Method ◽  
Strength Of Weak Ties ◽  
Everyday Communication

This article examines how people utilize WeChat, the most popular multi-purpose mobile app in China, to manage their everyday communication with different social ties. Since Granovetter popularized the idea of social ties by noting the strength of weak ties, a long list of studies has extended social ties theory by following the quantification tradition, for instance, quantitatively examining the different functionalities of strong and weak ties. However, many aspects of social ties cannot be easily quantified. In this vein, this study, being a qualitative network analysis, offers a communicative conception and categorization of social ties. It is based on data from 39 distinctive Chinese respondents, collected through an interview-diary-interview method. WeChat, being more than a social media app, affords new technologies (e.g., mobile payment and virtual red packets), enabling users to manage and maintain their social networks in new and alternative ways. The empirical findings suggest that Chinese respondents differentiate between strong, weak, and latent ties, and they articulate three communication strategies: managing availability, managing visibility, and managing reciprocal engagement. Based on the empirical evidence, this article discusses further implications with reference to the concepts of imagined audiences and commercialization of social relations. Moreover, this study contributes to social ties theory by providing empirical insights into its cultural specifications in the context of China, such as the emphasis on the principle of reciprocity in guanxi culture.

THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP AND SOCIAL TIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147
Author(s):  
M.N. Makarova ◽  
A.K. Lebedeva
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Peer Leadership ◽  
Strength Of Weak Ties ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Transformation Leadership

The sociological aspects of studying human capital, leadership and social ties, are considered in this article. Sociological theories of human capital consider it in its connection with social capital that can be defined as an engagement in social relations, units and networks giving one some benefits. Social ties are the resource of development of human capital. The article shows that human capital can be evaluated from sociological perspective through the role of a creative class and new forms of ties that constitute integration on the intergroup level (weak ties). Such forms of communication significantly expand the sphere of opportunities for human development. The leadership acquires new functions of building nodes of networks that establish and develop social ties on different levels, and contribute to social transformation. Leadership networks demonstrate strength of weak ties that allows leaders to reach their goals through collaboration and sharing information with their own kind and to broad the scope of their activity. There are four types of leadership networks: peer leadership networks, organizational leadership networks, field-policy leadership networks, and collective leadership networks. Study of the leadership networks helps to research forms of communications, factors influencing their intensity, trust among the network’s actors etc. Analysis of the leadership networks includes such objectives as definition of network structure; their dynamics; evaluating ways of communications, and impacts of changes that occur as the result of their activity. Network analysis allows finding out the core and peripheral agents of network, and strong and weak ties between them.

scholarly journals Protest engagement: weak vs strong social ties

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-33
Author(s):  
Ruslana Moskotina
Keyword(s):  
Social Ties ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Computer Experiments ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Strength Of Weak Ties ◽  
The One

This article dwells upon the importance of finding methods and ways of studying protest behaviour that can explain its emergence. Protest behaviour is considered as the result of protest engagement. It is assumed that there are social ties between individuals, potential protesters. M. Granovetter proposes to distinguish strong ties and weak ties. Strong ties tend to form closed and cohesive groups but weak ties can be the bridges that match groups and/or individuals. The author of this article conducts a research with applying a method of agent-based modelling. Its aim is to test the Granovetter’s thesis about the strength of weak ties towards protest behaviour. In this research the linear threshold model is used. Our research with applying method of the agent-based modelling includes the computer experiments (simulations) with the social networks. There are generated five networks, three of which contain only strong ties and the rest of the networks contain only weak ties. Simulations with the networks allow us to determine the number of inactive agents that are involved in the protest, the speed of the protest engagement and the effectiveness of overcoming the resistance of inactive agents. It is found that both weak ties and strong ties can determine protest behaviour. Strong ties contribute to a quicker protest engagement. Weak ties can better overcome the resistance of inactive agents. At the same time weak ties slow down the process of the protest engagement and strong ties are generally less effective in overcoming the resistance of inactive agents. Agent-based modelling helps us to conduct the fundamental research. On the one hand we test Granovetter’s thesis about the strength of weak ties towards protest behaviour. On the other hand we cannot draw conclusions about protest behaviour in Ukraine. But we can conduct an empirical sociological study in order to test the results of our research and understand its relevance towards protest behaviour in Ukraine.

scholarly journals The Functionality of Dissimilarity: Pro-Environmental Behavior through Heterogenous Networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Robbe Geerts ◽  
Frédéric Vandermoere ◽  
Stijn Oosterlynck
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Heterogeneous Network ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Social Expectations ◽  
Strength Of Weak Ties ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

This study explores whether social interaction with dissimilar others can lead to pro-environmental behavior. Dissimilar others are people who differ from the person in question (e.g., in terms of lifestyle or culture). While most research focuses on homogenous social networks (e.g., spatial communities), we explore the potential of network heterophily. Specifically, using data (n = 1370) from the Flemish Survey on Sociocultural Shifts, we examine the relationship between network heterophily and pro-environmental behavior (i.e., shopping decisions and curtailment behavior). Building on Granovetter’s study on ‘the strength of weak ties’, we emphasize the importance of social ties that provide novel information and social expectations. Through interaction with dissimilar others, people may create a heterogeneous network in which a diversity of information and social expectations with regard to pro-environmental behavior circulates. We expect that network heterophily may foster pro-environmental behavior. Our findings indicate that pro-environmental behavior may indeed be positively related to interaction with dissimilar others, partly because people with many dissimilar ties know more about environmental problems and are more concerned about them. This study therefore shows that network heterophily promotes pro-environmental behavior. The paper concludes with a discussion of the functionality of dissimilarity and some avenues for future research.

scholarly journals „Siła słabych więzi”, czyli (jeszcze raz) o maskującym języku socjologii

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Rafał Drozdowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Term Strength ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Strength Of Weak Ties ◽  
Society Today ◽  
Deep Crisis

The article concerns on the Mark Granovetter’s concept of the strength of weak ties. The main question is about how it is used in theoretical and ideological disputes of latemodern society today. For some, a society based on weak ties is equivalent of increasing autonomy and individuality, but this is also the relaxation of the most repressive forms of social control. For others, weak social relationships are the evidence of a deep crisis of contemporary societies. The problem is that both, the first and the others speakers are using the term “strength of weak ties” mask the true picture of social reality. The first are blind on the process of society disintegration. Others – ignore the growing importance of social networks and do not appreciate the causal force of “minimal engagement”. The new technologies are able to aggregate these “minimal engagements” into a new powerful instrument of political, social and cultural impact.

The Industrial Safety Professionals: A Comparative Analysis from World War I until the 1980S

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Safety ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Industrial Medicine

The birth of industrial society produced demand for the services of professionals specialized in matters related to industrial safety. Three professions—safety engineering, industrial medicine, and ergonomics—are examined. These professions are observed to either submit to single sets of demands, to integrate contradictory demands, or to experience scission. Until the late 1960s their growth appears to have been relatively peaceful and uncontroversial. From this period onward, controversy breaks out over questions related to industrial safety, and professions and government administrations grow. Increasingly, the traditional approach of safety professionals is called into question, and they adopt new orientations. These changes are mapped through the examination of data drawn principally from the United States, France, Great Britain, and to a lesser extent Brazil. The traditional standards approach competes with cost-benefit analysis and with systemic safety for influence; in addition, an emergent approach that analyzes accident causes in terms of social relations of work is detected. From Bhopal to Chernobyl, new technologies subject civilian populations to risks of catastrophic accidents, and the action of safety professionals comes under the spotlight. The analysis constructed permits new understandings of the past and the future of these professions.

scholarly journals Negative Life Events, Social Ties, and Depressive Symptoms for Older Adults in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 580-580
Author(s):  
Hangqing Ruan ◽  
Feinian Chen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Negative Life Events ◽  
Old Age Support ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Different Types

Abstract Negative life events are considered important risk factors of depression among older adults. An overwhelming amount of literature suggests that individuals with the most supportive social relations tend to make a better recovery from stressful life events. As for which types of ties matter the most, whether being family, relatives, friends or the broader community, existing literature is much less consistent and has documented varying effects across different contexts. This study is set in China, which traditionally relies on family systems and filial obligations for old-age support. Using two waves of data from China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, we examine the protective effect of different types of social relations on depressive symptoms, including those who are living in the household, children who live close by or far away, as well as their ties with family, relatives, and friends.

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