Social Contagion and the Prevalence of Drug Use in Homosexual Communities
Social Contagion is defined as the mechanisms through which the spread of ideas, information, opinions and any other type of social experience through imitation and conformity operates within a network. The occurrence we refer to in this class which is quite similar to social contagion is an information cascade. These may occur when people make decisions as a result of them watching the actions of those who have already made the same decisions, and these actions concluding something about what the earlier people possibly know.
When referring to social contagion, one of the best ways to describe the phenomenon is through viral internet videos. Clips such as the infamous “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That” and PSY’s song, “Gangnam Style” are shared through a social network, both through the internet and real life interactions, primarily for the purpose of entertainment. Amidst the entertainment, this informational exchange is truly evident of the direct influence through which members of a social network yearn to be informed of such viral videos. On a similar note, social contagion also provides the mechanisms for the spread of negative ideas through direct and indirect influences. Likewise, one can ascertain an indirect relationship between social contagion/information cascades and the prevalence of drug use in homosexual communities, as socially contagious behaviors such as peer pressure, role modeling, and social norms, perpetuate a culture of drugs in predominantly homosexual communities.
Depending on the context, social contagion can be orchestrated through a culmination of direct and indirect influences. Direct influences requires active participation between the persuader and the individual. On the other hand, indirect influences are passive considering that the influence is rendered on the individual without the consciousness of the person or community. A perceived permission by a community to engage in drug use is an indirect influence of the behavior in homosexual communities. On that same token, what differentiates social contagion from any other type of contagion, such as a medical contagion, is the fact that the items being diffused into the social network are intangible.
The topics of discussion, for all intents and purposes, encompass social phenomena, such as ideas, opinions, and particular behaviors. Moreover, through their ability to control what and how topics are transmitted, they can be modified by the individuals in the network. It can be ascertained that social contagion has a profound impact on the health effect of social networks, since contagious topics could be imitated, countered, or intensified by the members of the social network as they disseminates.
Works Cited
https://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/networks-book-ch16.pdf
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534067.001.0001/acref-9780199534067-e-7741
Buck, David M., Jennifer Ratcliff, Patrick Boerner, B. Ashby Plant, and Kate Zielaskowski. 2013. “Concern Over the Misidentification of Sexual Orientation: Social Contagion and the Avoidance of Sexual Minorities.” Journal Of Personality & Social Psychology 105(6): 941-960.