Social and Internet Networks are Intertwined
So far in class, we have been analyzing social networks and internet networks in separate contexts. However, in actuality, they are closely interconnected. Consider this example:
A social network tie reflected in a Facebook friendship leads someone to see a post by his/her Facebook friend linking to a news article. The person navigates to the news article and reads it, and then the clicks on other news articles, navigating the internet network of pages and links. Perhaps a couple of minutes later they come across an article that really strikes them, and they chose to share it on Facebook, starting the cycle over again.
As this example illustrates, the content we consume on the internet and the way in which we navigate it is heavily influenced by our social network. Is the reverse true as well? Perhaps, but it is unlikely to happen with the same prevalence. One could imagine though that someone browses to a news site, reads the comments on an article, and then choses to follow the commenter on Twitter. This could be considered the formation of a social tie, although it could also be perceived as merely adding a new source of information to one’s online presence.
Regardless, the interplay between the social network and internet network has interesting implications. A recent article in the American Press Institute [1] summarized a UC Davis study which concluded that “the topic of the news and the social media platform play influential roles in how much the news content gets shared.”
What people read on news sites differs from what they share. People are more likely to share inspirational, heart-warming, or uplifting stories on social media platforms and thus positive content may be over-represented in the content we encounter through social media. People also share ideas that they strongly agree or disagree with as the study found that the most common type of New York Times article shared on Facebook is opinion pieces.
Going forward, it would be interesting to analyze how far articles carry. As in, do the articles only cross one edge or are they shared by friends of friends and friends of friends of friends, etc.? Additionally, do certain types of articles or articles from particular sources get re-shared across more edges?
The American Press Institute summary was interesting but merely scratched the surface of this concept. It looked at the amount of re-shares but not how the article traveled through the social network. Overlaying the social network and information network might yield more insightful conclusions.