Weak and strong ties and its connection to experts' problem-solving styles in scaffolding students' PBL activities on social media

Background: Studies have acknowledged that social media enables students to connect with and learn from experts from different ties available in the students’ personal learning environment (PLE). Incorporating experts into formal learning activities such as scaffolding problem-solving tasks through social media, allows students to understand how experts solve real-world problems. However, studies that evaluate experts’ problem-solving styles on social media in relation to the tie strength of the experts with the students are scarce in the extant literature. This study aimed to explore the problem-solving styles that the experts portrayed based on their ties with the students in problem-based learning (PBL) on Facebook. Methods: This study employed a simultaneous within-subject experimental design which was conducted in three closed Facebook groups with 12 final year management students, six business experts, and one instructor as the participants. The experts were invited by the students from the weak and strong ties in their PLE. Hinging on the Strength of Weak Ties Theory (Granovetter, 1973) and problem-solving styles (Selby et al., 2004), this study employed thematic analysis using the ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software to map the experts’ comments on Facebook. Results: The experts from strong and weak ties who had a prior relationship with the students showed people preference style by being more sensitive to the students' learning needs and demonstrating firmer scaffolding compared to the weak ties' experts who had no prior relationship with the students. Regardless of the types of ties, all experts applied all manner of processing information and orientation to change but the degree of its applications are correlated with the working experience of the experts. Conclusion: The use of weak or strong ties benefited the students as it expedited their problem-solving tasks since the experts have unique expertise to offer depending on the problem-solving styles that they exhibited.

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Protest engagement: weak vs strong social ties

Ukrainian society ◽

10.15407/socium2019.03.023 ◽

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.

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Emerging networks in the global news arena: Theorizing the structural role of Chinese bridge blogs

Journalism ◽

10.1177/1464884916643681 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 835-851 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nan Zheng ◽

Stephen D Reese

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Theoretical Approach ◽

Contextual Information ◽

Online News ◽

Weak Ties ◽

National Context ◽

Strong Ties ◽

National Media ◽

Media Systems

In this article, we present a theoretical approach to conceptualizing the global news arena as a structure of relations formed across media systems worldwide, relations mapped by hyperlinked connections across online news platforms, including professional news sites, blogs, and other social media. Specifically, we argue that bridge blogs serve as the ‘weak ties’ (in Granovetter’s terms), linking cultural spheres formed by the ‘strong ties’ among traditional national media. Using China as the national context, we provide an overview of the phenomenon of bridge blogs, presenting an illustrative example to show how bridge blogs are positioned to provide contextual information and interpretation of events and issues in China to be better understood by overseas audiences.

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The Antecedents of Incidental News Exposure on Social Media

Social Media + Society ◽

10.1177/2056305118772827 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 205630511877282 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Mousa Ahmadi ◽

Donghee Yvette Wohn

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Weak Ties ◽

Strong Ties ◽

News Consumption ◽

Incidental Exposure

Social media users incidentally get exposed to news when their networks provide content that they would otherwise not seek out purposefully. We developed a scale of incidental news exposure on social media and conducted a survey to examine its antecedents. We found that information received through weak ties, rather than strong ties, was significantly associated with incidental news exposure. The amount of time spent, frequency of getting news updates, and the frequency clicking on news-related links on social media were correlated with incidental exposure. Our findings suggest that promoting news consumption on social media can be achieved not only through giving users information they want but also by exposing users to information they are not consciously looking for.

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The Application of Social Network Theory During a Pandemic

10.4018/978-1-7998-7503-1.ch009 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 188-203

Author(s):

Nashrawan Taha ◽

Azzah Al-Maskeri

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Social Media ◽

Social Network ◽

Network Theory ◽

Small World ◽

Social Network Theory ◽

Weak Ties ◽

The Social ◽

Strength Of Weak Ties ◽

Theoretical Overview

This chapter provides a theoretical overview of social network theory, given the widespread of social media during the COVID-19 outbreak. It mainly focuses on three social network theories (the social capital and structural halls, the strength of weak ties, and the small-world). It gives insights into how different researchers have examined these theories during the pandemics and how they have been used in exchanging and communicating information during pandemics. In addition, it reviews previous research concerning how epidemic propagation often happens based on these theories.

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Frameworks for Studying Information Behaviour: A Unit Theory Specification of Granovetter's Strength of Weak Ties

Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes du congrès annuel de l'ACSI ◽

10.29173/cais46 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Karen E. Pettigrew

Keyword(s):

Social Network ◽

Weak Ties ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Information Behaviour ◽

New Information ◽

Strength Of Weak Ties ◽

The Individual

Granovetter's theory of the "strength of weak ties" (SWT) posits that an individual's social network is comprised of weak and strong ties, but that it is through weak ties that new information and resources are received since strong ties usually possess the same information as the individual. This paper explains how SWT can be specified as a unit theory from its metatheoretical form. . .

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Weak Ties, Information, and Influence: How Workers Find Jobs in a Local Russian Labor Market

American Sociological Review ◽

10.1177/000312240507000303 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 408-421 ◽

Cited By ~ 159

Author(s):

Valery Yakubovich

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Conditional Logistic Regression ◽

Labor Market Outcomes ◽

Individual Characteristics ◽

Weak Ties ◽

Market Outcomes ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Timely Access ◽

Strength Of Weak Ties ◽

The Relationship

In 1973 Granovetter formulated the strength-of-weak-ties hypothesis (SWT), which became the foundation of a vast sociological literature on social networks in labor markets. Until now, SWT has never been directly tested but treated instead as a surrogate for the relationship between an actor's network and labor market outcomes such as characteristics of a job obtained. The paper restates SWT as a proposition about the probability of getting a job as a function of within-actor differences in tie strength and tests it with data on hires carried out in one Russian city in 1998. In support of SWT, the results show that a worker is more likely to get a job through one of her weak ties rather than strong ties. The advantages of weak ties lie in their abilities to provide timely access to non-redundant information and to influence employers directly. In contrast, strong ties are associated with indirect influence on employers through well-connected intermediaries. The estimates come from a within-worker fixed-effect conditional logistic regression and thereby provide rare evidence of an association between information and influence transferred through social ties and labor market outcomes, independent of workers' individual characteristics.

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TYING STRONG TIES IN INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A CONSTRAINT OR AN ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVER?

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship ◽

10.1142/s1084946718500024 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (01) ◽

pp. 1850002 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

CRISTIAN E VILLANUEVA ◽

ADRIANELA ANGELES ◽

LUZ CECILIA REVILLA

Keyword(s):

Positive Impact ◽

Social Performance ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

Entrepreneurial Activity ◽

Weak Ties ◽

Economic Sector ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Face To Face ◽

Strength Of Weak Ties ◽

Informal Entrepreneurship

Informal entrepreneurship is a persistent and extensive phenomenon in both developed and developing countries and considerable efforts have been made to understand it from an ecosystem perspective. Nevertheless, literature that analyzes networks within and among individuals in the informal economic sector has received less attention. This study presents an interesting extension of Granovetter's “strength of weak ties” hypothesis. Until now, strong ties are perceived to be constraining and less beneficial than weak ties for the entrepreneurial activity. However, this paper critically examines this assumption in the context of informal entrepreneurship to explore in detail this networking dynamic and how it affects their financial and social performance. A qualitative approach using 50 face-to-face interviews in Mexico was conducted. Our findings demonstrate that strong ties provide the resources, support and information informal entrepreneurs need to reduce their adversity and vulnerable conditions, having a positive impact on their financial and social outcomes.

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The Strength of Weak Ties Revisited: Further Evidence of the Role of Strong Ties in the Provision of Online Social Support

Social Media + Society ◽

10.1177/20563051211024958 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 205630512110249

Author(s):

Nicole C. Krämer ◽

Vera Sauer ◽

Nicole Ellison

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Social Network Sites ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Weak Ties ◽

Informational Support ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Online Social Support ◽

Received Social Support ◽

Strength Of Weak Ties

In this work, we challenge the assumption that weak ties play uniquely important social support roles on social network sites, particularly regarding informational support. To overcome methodological limitations of earlier research, we present a mixed-methods study. Forty-one participants were interviewed and asked to identify five weak, medium, and strong ties each and to report on perceived and actually received social support (emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal) associated with each. Complicating traditional understandings of “the strength of weak ties,” the qualitative analyses of actual support events show that both emotional and informational support is provided by strong ties. In an additional quantitative between-subjects study design, 352 participants were asked about various aspects of a weak, medium, or strong tie. These results indicate that participants valued their strong ties more regarding every form of support. Although there were only weak correlations between perceived and recalled actually received support, people also report actual support events with strong ties to be more helpful—overall suggesting the strength of strong ties.

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