Electronic groups and social networks

Jenny Preece's intriguing book Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability references the following paper as a "must read" item for understanding how communities operate.

Barry Wellman takes a non-alarmist approach to looking at the impact of new technologies on communities. In large part he advocates the use of social network theory to map relationships between people and determine metrics to watch how they fluctuate. While not entirely objective, the method does bring academic rigor to what would otherwise be unjustifiable supposition.

Wellman argues that social networks in the western world are shifting to have the following properties:
1. domestic: from person's home instead of public places
2. private: operated by person instead of family
3. specialized: different ties for different resources
4. sparsely knit: most people not strongly connected
5. fragmented: members of multiple specialized communities

He also defines six characteristics of social networks:
1. density (degree of contact a member has with all other group members)
2. boundedness (proportion of network members ties that stay within the network boundaries)
3. range (size and diversity of network population)
4. exclusivity (degree of availability for communication to network members)
5. social control (degree to which external sources create, manage and control one's communications and contacts)
6. tie strength (degree of social closeness, voluntariness, multiplexity or breadth and possibly frequency of contact)

An Electronic Group Is Virtually A Social Network, 1996
Barry Wellman
[Full-text pdf]