Comments on: The Primal Forces that Drive Social Networks

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:59:22 +0000

David,

Thanks for the great story. Have a happy and safe New Year.

- Greg

By: David Wilcox

David Wilcox — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:19:24 +0000

Greg, was just turned on to your blog by Jeanne Meister. I had always wondered why my small network of LinkedIn connections became so powerful a couple of years ago. Now I know.

I met about 20% of my connections at conferences between 2007 and now. My ability to see connections exploded after adding a relatively small number of these conference people, especially speakers in 2007.

It is clear now that these people were natural connectors and their networks likely included other connectors. Adding them to a modest network created as you describe an “instantaneous phase transition”. Too bad I did not gather the metrics, but great to understand the why. Also love the Tonto story.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:26:10 +0000

Julie,

Thank your kind words. I also think that you hit on an important point that social network analysis has brought to the fore: Anybody in the network can be influential.

Often, marketers get so caught up in numbers and targeting that they forget that consumers are real people with real lives who do real things. They call off-target audience that they reach “wastage.”

One thing that I really like about the effect of social networks is that it keeps marketers honest. It magnifies word of mouth to such an extent that no one can be ignored.

- Greg

By: Julie Weishaar

Julie Weishaar — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:21:59 +0000

Greg, thanks for another great post. I have not been disappointed by even one of your posts. Always well-written, rich in content, and valuable in theory and practice. I think what social networking brings back to the forefront is that no matter who your customer is, no matter what product or service you are trying to sell, the consumer is a human being. Humans communicate, build relationships, interact, network, etc. Networking is networking – whether it be on or off the web. Social networking sites can be equated with company holiday parties, company picnics, business-sponsored golf outings, etc. As you explained, networking begins at a local level and then grows exponentially according to the degrees of separation theory. As you say, social networking on the web is very powerful because we are able to expand our spheres of influence to such an incredibly huge arena – that being the Internet. I look forward to catching up on your posts that I have missed and reading your new ones. Thanks again for sharing

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:39:45 +0000

Erik,

Good points. Local communities are the building blocks of social networks.

- Greg

By: Erik Talgo

Erik Talgo — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:48:11 +0000

Just caught this on LinkedIn. Great advice on taking the local approach to building devoted communities. I think you must develop locally in order to discover the appropriate “weak ties.” From there, they will help foster the growth of a social network that is based on meaningful relationships that are mutually beneficial.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:52:19 +0000

Matt,

Thanks. I’m glad you liked it:-)

- Greg

By: Matt Wills

Matt Wills — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:39:41 +0000

Greg,

Just ran across your posting on LinkedIn so I followed it to your blog. Useful info to avoid trying the “herding cats” approach to using Social Media.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:17:33 +0000

John,

I’m glad you liked it. Thanks.

btw. You might also like this article on how ideas spread that is also related to network theory.

- Greg

By: John MacDonald

John MacDonald — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:35:47 +0000

Love this posting about a truly fundamental construct of the media landscape. And well written as usual.