Social Networks and Communities of Practice

Sonya Ayu Kumala, M.HumUniversitas Muhammadiyah Tangerang

Social network is the realtionship (individual) with others through social and geographical space linking many individuals.

Pattern of associations are between people who are friends or roughly social equals within a community.

In sociolinguistics study, social network is used as basic for analysing linguistcs variation

What is social network?

Linguistics diffusion = horizontal channel, vertical channel.

Horizontal channel= within one age group and social cohortVertical channel= channels between generations or across big social divides

Social network is grouping based on frequency and quality of members interaction.

Social class is a function of the interaction of a whole lot of different social attributes.

Social class vs Social network

SOCIAL CLASS Grouping people into social class involving

the social matters/social attributes. Ex: the height of education, how

prestigious the job, etc.

SOCIAL NETWORK Grouping people based on the

idiosyncratic factors. Idiosyncratics = special, specifics. Network= How often they are the same?

Different? Ex: who your firends, who you live near,

who you have dinner with, who you have work with, etc.

A. Observing the interaction in community (how, why)

B. Let the object define their own social network.

Identifying the social network in community

Core network member: the members centrally involved and actively participating in a friendship network.

Peripheral and secondary network members: the members who less integrated or involved to the friendship network.

Dense network: Everyone within the network knowing each other.

Slow down or inhibit change.

Loose network: Not all members know each other within social network.

Open to change

Dense and Loose Network

Uniplex tie: a network tie between individuals that expresses one role or basis for contact and interaction.

If the network tie between two individuals is based only on one relationship.

Example: two people work together, having the same swim club for children, mother-daughter

Uniplex tie and Multiplex ties

Multiplex: Individuals in a social network can be linked trough a single social relationship.

If the network tie between two people know each other in several different roles.

Example: friend, classmate, working place

Communities of practice were the first knowledge-based social structures and arose when people realized they could benefit from sharing their knowledge, insights and experiences with others with similar interests or goals.

A smaller unit than social network The co-membership is defined on three criteria.

a. Mutual engagement

b. A jointly negotiated enterprise

c. Shared repertoire

Community of practice

Mutual engagement: coming together in direct personal contact.

If there is no ties at least they inherit the same ties.

Shared repertoire: member or community practice shared ways of pronouncing the words, shared jargon, slang, jokes, etc.

Jointly negotiated enterprise: the members of community of practice are wrking toward the same shared goal or defining/satisfying the same specific enterprise.