Although social network science might be the uninvited guest of the parties you’ve attended, it is now the guest of honor for effective communications practice in the digital age.
Social network science is the study of patterns of connections, examining human relationships and connections among people.1
It allows us to have a bird’s-eye view of online interactions to see how people are thinking, feeling and behaving in real time and over time.
Studying how people interact online reveals who drives conversations, which topics resonate and how information is most effectively shared among groups, all essential information for effective communications.
Although the approach is scientific, the concepts are deeply human and easy to spot at parties.
These same roles and group dynamics appear in Twitter conversations and can shape how best to build advocacy coalitions, pitch media and set digital communications strategy.
Right at the party’s door, the social dynamics of the group are visible, making obvious the quickest path to spreading news based on the partygoers’ relative positions in the group. You’re sure to identify:
- The Emcee — This is the one everyone knows and wants to be seen with. People swarm around the emcee because they are driving conversations and facilitating connections among other attendees. It might be hard to compete for this person’s attention, but getting your message to them is the most efficient way to spread the news.
- The Wallflower — This guest has the fewest connections with others and might hover on the fringes. They can be difficult to reach given their limited interactions within the group.
- Polarized Groups — Their conversations are full of hot-button topics and one-sided perspectives. Group members typically feel strongly about their opinions and are less inclined to hear perspectives from outsiders. If you have news to share, you might consider finding a messenger within the group or packaging the news within the context of a topic that’s already widely discussed and accepted among the group.
- The Bridge — This guest is not deeply entrenched in one group but has loose connections with several of them. This person can bridge the gap between groups who wouldn’t naturally engage with each other. If you have information that needs to reach both groups, tapping into a bridge as your messenger is an effective strategy.
These same roles and group dynamics appear in Twitter conversations and can shape how best to build advocacy coalitions, pitch media and set digital communications strategy.
Among social media platforms, why is Twitter — with a user base of just 22% of the U.S. adult population2 — disproportionately more important than other platforms? It’s because that user base is disproportionately influential — media, politicians, celebrities, business and thought leaders — in shaping news, opinions and events.
That’s why we built our own proprietary tool, Paraqeet, to evaluate Twitter conversations in real time using social network analysis techniques. Paraqeet allows us to customize how we search handles, hashtags and keywords, visualize search topic conversations and connections, and rank influencers. It’s a lot more scientific than scoping out a cocktail party, but the principles remain the same.
If you’d like to see social network analysis in action, sign up for a Paraqeet free trial.
And if you’d like to learn more about the power of our social networks, check out this book.
Cheers!
