Networking for Social Integration

What is Social networks?

- The term "social network" revolves around the idea of connections and relationships between
individuals, whether in the real world or in the digital realm.
- Social networks are the most common means of communication used by a large number of
people, especially the youth.
- Nowadays, no one can live without having an account on Twitter, Facebook, or any other kind of
social network, to be connected to the whole environment.
- It is a social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations) that are
tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas, financial
exchange, friendship, kinship, dislike, conflict or trade.
- Social Networking refers to grouping of individuals and organizations together via some
medium, in order to share thoughts, interests, and activities.
Available Social networking Services
1. Facebook. Allows to share text, photos, video etc. It also offers interesting online games.
2. Google+. It is pronounced as Google Plus. It is owned and operated by Google.
3. Twitter. Twitter allows the user to send and reply to messages in the form of tweets. These tweets
are small messages and generally include 140+ characters.
4. Faceparty. Faceparty is a CIK-based social networking site. It allows the users to create profiles
and interact with each other using forum messages.
5. Linkedin. LinkedIn is a business and professional networking site.
6. Flickr. Flickr offers image hosting and video hosting.
7. Ibibo. Ibibo is a talent-based social networking site- It allows users to promote one's self and also
discover new talent
8. Whatsapp. It is a mobile-based messaging app. It allows you to send text, video, and audio
messages
9. Line. It is the same as WhatsApp. Allows to make free calls and messages.
10. Hike. It is also a mobile-based messager that allows you to send messages and exciting
emoticons.
Where Social Networking Helps

- Following are the areas where social networking has become most popular.
1. Online Marketing- A website like Facebook allows us to create a page for a specific product,
community, or firm and promote it over the web.
2. Online Jobs- Websites like LinkedIn allow us to create connections with professionals and help
to find a suitable job based on one's specific skill set.
3. Online News- On social networking sites, people also post daily news which helps us to keep us
updated
4. Chatting. Social networking allows us to keep in contact with friends and family. We can
communicate with them via messages.
5. Share Pictures, Audio and video. One can share pictures, audio, and video using social
networking sites.
Social Networking and Social Integration

- Social Networking, is built on the idea that there is a determinable structure to how people know
each other, whether directly or indirectly.
- EXAMPLE. Consider a scenario where individuals A, B, and C are interconnected through a
social network. A and B are friends, and B is also acquainted with C. In this example, there's a
 determinable structure to how these individuals know each other: A knows B directly, and A
indirectly knows C through their mutual connection with B.
- The concept of "six degrees of separation" is a theory that suggests that any two people on
Earth can be connected through a chain of acquaintances or relationships with no more than six
intermediaries.
- In other words, everyone is socially connected to everyone else by a relatively short chain of
personal connections. This idea became widely known through the work of social psychologist
Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, who conducted an experiment known as the "small world
experiment."
- Social integration refers to the degree to which individuals are actively involved in various social
relationships and activities, as well as their sense of belonging and identification with their social
roles.
- In simpler terms, it's about how connected and engaged someone is in their social life,
encompassing both the relationships they have and their sense of belonging to different social
groups or roles.
- Social integration and social support are often used interchangeably but represent different
conceptual approaches to understanding the influence of social relationships.
- For example, the classic paper by Cohen and Wills (1985) distinguished structural and functional
aspects of social support.
- Social integration is viewed as structural, because it represents the presence or absence of
support, whereas perceived social support and received social support are viewed as functional
aspects of relationships (e.g., Holt-Lunstad et al. 2017).
The Network

- Networking is the exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession or
special interest, usually in an informal social setting.
- Networking often begins with a single point of common ground. One approach to applying a
network perspective to a substantive area is to take a key concept within the area and define it in
network terms.
- (Wellman, 1979; Wellman andWordey, 1990).
- In simple terms, networking is like making friends with people who share your interests, and
applying a network perspective is like looking at those interests as part of a big, interconnected
system, which can give you new insights and change the way you think about things.
- Wellman suggested that when we think about communities, we shouldn't just see them as physical
places offering help and services.
- Instead, communities are made up of people who are connected to each other.
- In this view, your community is made up of the individuals you're connected to personally. This
way of thinking changed how we understand the impact of modern life and city living on our
interactions and support systems. It shifts the focus from where you live to the people you're
connected with, acknowledging the importance of personal connections in shaping our
communities. (Wellman, 1979; Wellman andWordey, 1990).
- This work set the agenda for debates that would follow about how social support networks are
changing (Hennig, 2007), and how new technology affects communities (Hampton, 2007).
Meanwhile. Churchill and Halverson (2005) presented some common network characterizations
and these are as follows:
o Centralized, decentralized (that is, multicentered), or distributed (centerless); Hierarchical
or horizontal;
o Bounded or boundless,
o Finite (with fixed limits on the number of nodes and ties);
o Accessible or inaccessible; Inclusive or exclusive;
o Intensive (that is, few nodes linked by a multiplicity of dense, strong ties) or expansive
(many nodes enabling reciprocal, multidirectional flows); or Non-interactive (enabling
only unidirectional flows)
 To better understand network, we follow Borgatti et al's (2009) classification of network
arguments into four (4) categories, transmission, adaptation, binding, and exclusion.
1. Transmission
- Network-based theories frequently treat network ties as pipelines through which many things
flow: information about jobs (Granovetter, 1973, 1974), social support (Wellman and Wortley,
1990), norms (Coleman, 1988), workspace identities (Podolny and Baron, 1997), disease
(Morris, 1993), immunity disease (S.Cohen et al, 1997, 2001), material aid (Stack, 1974) or
knowledge of culture (Erickson,1996).
2. Adaptation
- Adaptation occurs when two people make the same choices because they have similar network
positions and are thus exposed to similar constraints and opportunities.
- Maintaining ties to customers requires that they maintain ties with viticultural regions (Podolny,
2005).
- For example, a coffee shop might need to stay connected with coffee-producing regions to ensure
a steady supply of high-quality beans. If they have good ties with those regions, they are more
likely to adapt their choices in a way that benefits both the coffee shop and the coffee growers.
3. Binding
- This occurs when a network binds together to act as one unit. The actions or outcomes of that
action are influenced by the internal structure of the network.
- For example, Granovetter (1973), argues that communities fighting urban renewal in their
neighborhoods are better able to organize their resistance when their internal networks are less
fragmented. When community networks are internally disconnected, information cannot diffuse
fully through the network, and trust in leaders that is facilitated by indirect connections may
never develop. With an internally fragmented structure, the community is less effective, less
coordinated, and more defeated in its attempts at collective action than a community with a more
integrated network.
4. Exclusion
- This occurs when the presence of one tie precludes the existence of another tie, which in turn
affects the excluded node's relations with other nodes.
- It happens when establishing a connection with one person or entity makes it challenging or
impossible to establish a connection with another. This can be due to various reasons such as time
constraints, conflicting interests, or exclusive agreements.
- For example, in a business network, if a company forms an exclusive partnership with one
supplier, it might preclude them from forming a similar partnership with a competing supplier.
This decision not only affects the relationships with the excluded supplier but can also influence
how the company interacts with other players in the industry.
LESSON 1.2. Network as a Social Structure and Institution
Social Structure: The Building Blocks of Social Life

- Social structure is the social patterns through which a society is organized and can be horizontal
or vertical, Tonnies, F. (1963)
- Imagine a school. The classrooms, teachers, and students all have their own places and roles.
That's the social structure of the school. If students from different grades work together on a
project (horizontal), or if there's a principal making decisions for everyone (vertical), that's part of
how the social structure plays out.
- Wilterdink and Form (2020) discussed that social life is structured along the dimensions of time
and space
- Specific social activities take place at specific times, Specific social activities are also organized
at specific places; particular places, for instance, are designated for such activities as working,
worshiping, eating, and sleeping.
Structure and Social Organization
1. Karl Marx
- The basic structure of society is economic, or material, and this structure influences the rest of
social life, which is defined as nonmaterial, spiritual, or ideological.
2. Herbert Spencer
- He and other social theorists of the 19th and early 20th centuries conceived of society as an
organism comprising interdependent parts that form a structure similar to the anatomy of a living
body.
3. Emile Durkheim
- Durkheim believed that individual human behavior is shaped by external forces.
4. George P. Murdock
- He examined kinship systems in preliterate societies and used social structure as a taxonomic
device for classifying, comparing, and correlating various aspects of kinship systems.
Several ideas are implicit in the notion of social structure.

- First, human beings form social relations that are not arbitrary and coincidental but exhibit some
regularity and continuity.
- Second, social life is not chaotic and formless but is differentiated into certain groups, positions,
and institutions that are interdependent or functionally interrelated.
- Third, individual choices are shaped and circumscribed by the social environment.

Structural Functionalism
1. A.R. Radcliffe-Brown
- In his view, the components of the social structure have indispensable functions for one another
—the continued existence of one component is dependent on that of the others—and for the
society as a whole, which is seen as an integrated, organic entity.
2. Talcott Parsons

- For Parsons, social structure is like a set of rules that guide how people should behave in different
situations
- These norms can change based on a person's role, like being a worker or a parent.

Theories of Class and Power

1. Robert K. Merton
 - The social structure consists not only of normative patterns but also of the inequalities of power,
status, and material privileges, which give the members of society widely different opportunities
and alternatives.
- APARTHEID

2. Marxism
- The Marxian view is succinctly summarized in Marx’s phrase “The ideas of the ruling class are,
in every age, the ruling ideas.”
3. Structuralism
- Structuralism, derived from structural linguistics, explores the hidden patterns or structures that
unconsciously shape human expressions, behavior, and culture.
- French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss applied this approach to social and cultural aspects,
believing that just as language has underlying rules, so do social and cultural phenomena.
- Structures such as the human mind, grammar, and language are sometimes called “deep
structures” or “substructures.”
- Michel Foucault used this approach to study corporal punishment. He argued that even though
liberal states claimed to abolish physical punishment, they replaced it with monitoring and
controlling people's behavior, essentially punishing the "soul" rather than the body.

Social Network Formation: Homophily, Love, and Cooperation

Homophily

- It is a social concept where people’s networks tend to be more homogeneous than heterogeneous
such that communication between similar people occurs more frequently than with dissimilar
people.
Two Categories:
1. Status homophily mainly focused on the social position of the individuals inferring that
individuals belonging to similar social conditions are inclined to mix.
2. Value homophily is based upon the similarity of thoughts of individuals leading to the belief that
individuals with homogeneous thoughts are inclined to connect with others even though
differences may lie in their social positions
Heterophily

- It refers to the tendency or condition where individuals or groups connect or form ties with others
who are different from them in certain characteristics or attributes.
Two types of Heterophily
• Sex Heterophily: This refers to the tendency for individuals to form connections or ties with
others of the opposite sex.
• Age Heterophily: This refers to the tendency for individuals to form connections or ties with
others of a different age group.

Theoretical Assumptions on Human Relations and Interactions

Human Relations

- Human Relations according to W. E. G. Scott, Keith Davis, and Mac Farland, in its broadest
sense, refers to the interaction of people in all walks of life—in schools, colleges, homes,
businesses, and government, and so on.
Human Relations in Industry
 - The term signifies the relationship that should be cultivated and practiced by an employer or a
supervisor with his/her subordinates.
- W. E. G. Scott has remarked, ‘Human relations are a process of an effective motivation of an
individual in a given situation to achieve a balance of objectives which will yield greater human
satisfaction and help accomplish company goals’.

Four basic assumptions regarding the nature of man:

1. Motivation: According to the need theory, both normal human behavior and his/her course of
future action are caused by a person’s need structure.
2. Individual Differences: So, management can get the subordinates motivated by treating them
individually and differently
3. A Whole Person: The functional idea should always be kept in mind by a manager that the whole
person is to be dealt with, not a part of his/her personality.
4. Human Dignity: Treating subordinates as respectable human beings, appreciating their skills,
and recognizing their personality are the basics of human relations.
4. The commodity approach or a factor of production approach is not at all good for dealing with
subordinates
The following are assumptions on human relations according to the concepts relating to the Nature of
Organizations:
1. Organization as a Social System: Industrial organizations are social systems.
2. Mutual Interest: Organization theory tells us about the mutuality of interest between individuals
and organization
Network Rules in Real Life
1. Inclusion and Exclusion in Networks
- Castells suggests that societies, whether on a global or local scale, are significantly influenced by
their inclusion or exclusion from various networks that structure production, consumption,
communication, and power.
- Networks operate by incorporating valuable people and resources, excluding those that are
deemed irrelevant or have little value to the network's tasks.
Exclusion is considered a built-in, structural feature of the network society.
2. Divides in the Network Society
- Castells identifies fundamental divides in the network society, including the division of labor and
a poverty trap.
- These divides create distinctions between those who are sources of innovation and value, those
who carry out instructions, and those deemed irrelevant as workers or consumers.
3. Power and Control in Networks
- Power in the network society is closely tied to control or influence over communication.
- Connectivity and access to networks play a crucial role in the ability of certain social groups to
impose their values and goals on society, while others resist domination.
4. Globalization and Spatial Location
- Globalization in the network society diminishes the significance of spatial location.
- Traditional constraints imposed by separate spaces for different social relations, customs, and
cultures are weakened as individuals can communicate globally without being bound by specific
geographical locations.
5. Communication as Empowering or Disempowering
- The impact of globalizing electronic communication is viewed through the lens of whether it is
empowering or disempowering.
- If communication is seen as a two-way process, with individuals actively interpreting and
selectively using information, it can empower local communities. On the contrary, a one-way
communication process may disempower them.
6. Tension and Empowerment
- The tension between networks attempting to impose their values and goals and others resisting
domination is a driving force for change and development in the network society.
 - Social media, including networking platforms like Facebook, is seen as a tool that strengthens
empowerment by connecting social movements via the internet.

Kinship Networks
Three fundamental principles:
1. Filiation
2. Marriage
3. Gender
Kinship Network Theory

- It relies on the concept of cyclic configurations, which are defined as sequences of individuals
connected by kinship ties.
Kinship Network Structures

- Kinship network structures are not solely determined by biology. Cultural variations exist in
defining filiation, marriage, and gender.
- Although biology provides a model for understanding kinship (procreation for filiation, sex for
marriage), it doesn't capture the essence of these relationships in all societies.
- Kinship can be defined through social network structures, acknowledging the cultural and social
construction of these relationships
Biology

- It is the privileged model for kinship since it affords a universally intelligible code for expressing
the latter’s fundamental relations: procreation as a model for filiation, sex as a model for marriage
Economic Networks

- It refers to a diverse set of interconnected economic agents such as:

business networks (BN), inter-organizational networks (ION), supply chain networks (SCN),
credit networks (CN), ownership networks, innovation networks, investment networks,
or any other economic activity that is carried out across organizational, geographic, or political
boundaries and involves multiple interconnected agents
- Podolny and Page (1998) define an economic network as a group of agents that pursue repeated,
enduring exchange relations with one another.
- Other definitions refer to: a set of actors who know each other’s relevant characteristics or can
learn them through referral Granovetter (1973, 1995); and sets of repetitive transactions based on
structural and relational formations with dynamic boundaries that comprise of interconnected
elements (actors, resources and activities) (Todeva, 2006)
GLOBAL SOCIAL NETWORKS
GLOBALIZATION

- It is the connection of different parts of the world. Globalization results in the expansion of
international cultural, economic, and political activities.
- Globalization is often associated with "Americanization," or the exporting of American brands
and consumer goods.
- American fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC are now common sights worldwide,
including China.
Examples:
1. The globalization of Greek culture
2. The Silk Road
 3. Europeans began establishing colonies overseas
4. Industrial Revolution 19th Century - Britain’s colony in India supplied cotton to British merchants
and traders.
- Madras, a light cotton cloth, was made in the city of Madras (now called Chennai), a major port
in India. Eventually, madras cloth was no longer manufactured in Madras at all—the Indian labor
force supplied the raw material, cotton.

Globalization: Communication

- Modern communication has played a large role in cultural globalization. Today, news and
information zips instantly around the world on the internet. People can read information about
foreign countries as easily as they read about their local news. Through globalization, people may
become aware of incidents very quickly. In seconds, people are able to respond to natural
disasters that happen thousands of miles away. Many people access information through
improved and new technology, such as cell phones. About 70 percent of the people in the world
use cell phones. A farmer in Nigeria can easily talk to his cousin who moved to New York, New
York. The success of global news networks like CNN have also contributed to globalization.
People all over the world have access to the same news 24 hours a day.
Globalization: Travel

- Travelers are exposed to new ideas about food, which may change what they buy at the store at
home. They are exposed to ideas about goods and services, which may increase demand for a
specific product that may not be available at home.
Globalization: Popular Culture

- Popular culture has also become more globalized. The worldwide expansion of McDonald’s has
become a symbol of globalization.
Globalization: Economy

- International trade is vital to the economies of most countries around the world.
- Economic globalization has allowed many corporations based in the West to move factories and
jobs to less economically developed countries, a process called outsourcing.
Globalization: Politics

- They work together to open their borders to allow the movement of money and people needed to
keep economic globalization working.
- In 2002, the International Criminal Court was established. This court, which handles cases
such as war crimes, has a global reach, although not all countries have accepted it.

Lesson 1.3. Barriers in Establishing Social Networks

 Barriers in Establishing Social Networks: Cultural Considerations

Culture - Culture is all socially transmitted and shared behaviors, manners, customs, rituals, beliefs,
ideas, arts, knowledge, values, morals and ideals that are learned in a group of the same nationality,
religion or ethnicity. It is handed down from generation to generation, slowly evolving, and creating many
subcultures in the process.
Cultural diversity - Cultural diversity is about appreciating that society is made up of many different
groups with different interests, skills, talents and needs. It also means that you recognize that people in
society can have differing religious beliefs and sexual orientations to you.

- Cultural diversity can make communication difficult where a misunderstanding can cause
problems. When people from different cultures work together, several factors can become
barriers.
 1. Language. Not speaking the same language (well) can cause a myriad of misunderstandings
and is considered the most crucial barrier in cross-cultural communication.
2. Verbal communication is important in every context, but the meaning of words can literally
get lost in translation. If one person isn’t aware of the exact meaning of a word, it may be
misunderstood or misinterpreted by the other person and lead to a conflict of ideas.
3. Stereotypes and prejudices - Stereotypes are mostly negative images or preconceived
notions about a specific community, group or culture. The basis of stereotyping can be many
things, though the most common are nationality, gender, race, religion or age.
4. Signs and symbols. Non-verbal communication like signs and symbols differ from culture to
culture and can therefore not be relied upon in communication. While not quite as easily
misconstrued in a team environment as the other factors, it can still lead to cultural faux-pas
that may take time to smooth over and could be avoided in the first place.
5. Behaviors and Beliefs - Cultural differences cause behavioral and personality differences
like body language, gestures, mindsets, communication, manners, and norms, which may lead
to miscommunication. Eye contact, for example, is very important in some cultures, but rude
and disrespectful in others.
6. “Us” versus “them” (ethnocentrism) - From an evolutionary standpoint, belonging to a
group made you stronger and more likely to survive in a hostile world. Strangers or other
groups were “the enemy”, competing for food, safety and territory.
- This us- versus them-thinking is ingrained in our subconscious and can lead to a sense of
alienation if someone behaves in a way we don’t understand or aren’t expecting — if they don’t
fit in.
Overcoming Cultural Barriers
1. Embrace diversity and accommodate cultural differences
2. Promote open communication
3. Lead open discussions about norms and shared culture
4. Rally the community around a shared vision or common cause

 Barriers in Establishing Social Networks: Political Conflict

Political Ideology - A set of ideas, beliefs, values, and opinions, exhibiting a recurring pattern, that
competes deliberately as well as unintentionally over providing plans of action for public policy
making in an attempt to justify, explain, contest, or change the social and political arrangements and
processes of a political community.

- The influence of political ideology on individuals’ behavior and their endorsement of social
policies is pervasive, and its impact on their economic and social well-being is incontrovertible.
- The influence of political ideology is evident not only in how recent social events have been
interpreted but also in people’s everyday nonpolitical behavior.
- There are many different ways to view how societies should function, and as a result, many
different political ideologies:
a) Liberalism - The dominant ideology in the United States, Liberalism promotes the right of the
individual, free speech, and democracy. Typically, the liberal viewpoint is pro-capitalism and
independent choice, acknowledging that government is necessary but should be limited.
b) Socialism - The main focus is on distribution and production, advocating for goods and services
to be shared with the community as a whole. It also advocates for a comprehensive social
program and compatibility with democratic governance or the building of open and responsible
institutions. Cooperation is an important value.
c) Fascism - A fascist viewpoint advocates for an authoritarian government and the suppression
of viewpoints opposing the government. Fascism is in direct opposition to liberal viewpoints.
d) Conservatism - Conservative beliefs value free enterprise and traditional institutions and
beliefs, often religious in reasoning. Conservatism advocates for private ownership of goods
and services. Conservatives value continuity and stability rather than more dramatic changes to
the role of government.
e) Progressivism - Progressivists believe that the government has an essential role to play in
social reform and economic improvement for ordinary citizens.
 f) Communism - It seeks class equality. In the Marxist system, all property is owned by the
government, and individuals are paid according to their skills. It is commonly thought of as an
advanced form of socialism.
g) Political Conflict - It stems from the perspectives, interests, and values of individuals.

 Barriers in Establishing Social Networks: Religious Dogma

From a sociologist standpoint - Many sociologists argue that religious beliefs and organizations act as
conservative forces and barriers to social change. For example, religious doctrines such as the Hindu
belief in reincarnation or Christian teachings on the family have given religious justification to existing
social structures.
Religiosity - It is conceptualized with three dimensions: believing (intensity/contents of faith), behaving
(prayer/service attendance/involvement in religious organizations) and belonging (religious affiliation).

- It is conceptualized with three dimensions: believing (intensity/contents of faith), behaving

(prayer/service attendance/involvement in religious organizations) and belonging (religious
affiliation).