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Network illustration of opinion leaders with high degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. Source: Adapted from Everett's kite, in Brandes and Hildenbrand, 2014.
Source publication
Social network theory focuses on the role of social relationships in transmitting information, channeling personal or media influence, and enabling attitudinal or behavioral change. Since the 1960s, social network theory has significantly expanded the horizon of media effects research, with increasing application of network analytic methods in vari...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... centrality measures the number of links to and from an individual in a network. Individuals with high degree centrality are more likely to become opinion leaders because more social ties can mean greater opportunities to receive as well as disseminate information (see Figure 1, black node). Betweenness centrality measures the frequency at which an individual node lies on the shortest path connecting other nodes in the network. ...
Context 2
... like gatekeepers in a network, if individuals high in betweenness centrality oppose the dissemination of an idea, this piece of information may not be able to flow to other areas of the network. In Figure 1, the light gray node occupies this critical position. Finally, closeness central- ity measures the average distance between an individual node and all other nodes in the network. ...
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This review explicates the past, present and future of theory and research concerning audience perceptions of the media as well as the effects that perceptions of media have on audiences. Before the sections that examine media perceptions and media effects perceptions, we first identify various psychological concepts and processes involved in gener...
Citations
... Studies have supported the idea that risky behaviors on adolescents may be influenced by their childhood experiences. In this context, the theoretical framework of this study, which examines the relationship between adolescents' childhood experiences and social media use, is based on the Social Network Theory [36][37][38][39] and the Compensatory Internet Use Theory [15]. ...
... The Social Network Theory fundamentally centers on the idea that individuals interact through relationships and cannot be viewed in isolation from their social environment. In this theory, networks consist of actors who establish relationships with one another, forming overall social structures and shaping interactions within these structures [36,39]. The structure of social interactions facilitates or restricts access to valuable resources, which may be related to work (e.g., task advice, feedback information) or personal support (e.g., emotional support, encouragement). ...
... The central premise of this theory is that excessive internet use stems from an individual's response to adverse life situations facilitated by digital applications. The Social Network Theory [36][37][38][39]42,43] may explain how childhood experiences are shaped through networks and highlights their impact on an individual's development. Meanwhile, the Compensatory Internet Use Theory [15], suggests that these adverse experiences influence an individual's digital behaviors. ...
Social media usage among adolescents has significantly increased in recent years, playing a crucial role in contemporary youth culture. The increasing adoption of the internet across all age groups has led to numerous benefits, but also concerns regarding its misuse, particularly among adolescents. However, alongside these benefits, problems related to internet misuse have also escalated. Background/Objectives: A review of the literature reveals a lack of studies examining the long-term effects of childhood experiences on later social media addiction. This study aims to investigate the impact of childhood experiences on social media addiction during adolescence. Methods: This study employs a relational survey model, a quantitative research method. Data were collected using the Childhood Experiences Scale and the Social Media Addiction Scale for Adolescents. This study’s participants included 371 adolescents attending secondary education institutions under the Ministry of National Education of Türkiye during the 2024–2025 academic year. Participants were selected through simple random sampling. Relationship and impact tests were used to analyze the data. Results: This study found that adolescents with adverse school experiences exhibited social media addiction. A significant relationship was found between adverse school experiences and the time spent on social media. Furthermore, in terms of the gender variable, it was found that females scored significantly higher on the Social Media Addiction Scale for Adolescents compared to males. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it is observed that adverse experiences encountered in children’s school life may influence social media addiction in their future lives. In future studies, researchers may identify different childhood experiences that impact social media addiction.
... Based on the social network theory assumptions, this study statistically measures the centrality of actors and/or concepts within the discourse network and visualises the results (Liu et al., 2017). To do so, it is important to mention two key concepts to understand the analytical and visualisation results: nodes and edges. ...
This study explores the civilian control of militarisation practice in Indonesia, which refers to the discursive politics involving citizenry in the legitimisation mechanism of the use of military force for defence and non-defence objectives. To explore the empirical manifestation of the concept, the study applies the discourse network analysis method, which combines qualitative content analysis and social network analysis to investigate the public debates over the military law amendment. Accordingly, the study collected a dataset of 227 statements from 55 actors in 118 news articles on the military law amendment from May to July 2023. The analysis reveals that, first, the discourse was dominated by actors from non-governmental organisations, think tanks, and academia. Second, the discourse was driven by several main concerns, such as the return of military dual-function doctrine, the current state of military personnel occupying civilian posts, and the urgency of public participation in the deliberation process of the amendment. This article argues that the configuration of the dominant actors and the prominent issues reflect the prevalence of inward-looking defence policy orientation issue in Indonesia.
... Such theories, models and frameworks demonstrate that strategies to implement innovations at scale are complex, and involve the consideration of a number of individual, organisational, social, political and other contextual factors [46][47][48]. The most common utilised theories include diffusion of innovation theory [46] social network theories [47][48][49] and The Expand Net framework [50,51]. Roger's diffusion of innovation theory attests to five factors, adopters, and strategies that can lead to fast diffusion of innovation [46], whereas the social network theories use four network strategies in a scale-up process and include: identifying key actors, identifying and shifting the actions of subclusters at a time, stimulating peerto-peer influence and altering the network (removing or adding actors into key network positions [49]. ...
... The most common utilised theories include diffusion of innovation theory [46] social network theories [47][48][49] and The Expand Net framework [50,51]. Roger's diffusion of innovation theory attests to five factors, adopters, and strategies that can lead to fast diffusion of innovation [46], whereas the social network theories use four network strategies in a scale-up process and include: identifying key actors, identifying and shifting the actions of subclusters at a time, stimulating peerto-peer influence and altering the network (removing or adding actors into key network positions [49]. The Expand Net framework supported by the WHO recommends a stepwise approach to scaling up interventions while abiding to its key principles namely; system thinking, enhancing scalability, focus on sustainability, respect for human rights, equity and gender perspectives [50,51]. ...
Introduction
Scaling up public health interventions in the health systems of resource poor settings come with technical and operational challenges. Little is documented on scaling up complex health financing interventions and their related outcomes, especially the voluntary health insurance schemes. This study aimed to analyse the scale-up steps, successes and challenges of the improved community health fund (iCHF), a voluntary health insurance scheme in Tanzania,
Methods
In this paper, guided by the Expand Net framework (a scale-up framework for health system interventions), we present a systematic analysis of countrywide scale-up of the iCHF that started in 2019 and implemented in partnership between the government and development partners. We systematically collected information on the scale-up steps and the success and challenges. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results
The scale-up involved multiple steps and actions at different levels of the health system. The initial step involved gathering stakeholders’ views on scale-up options and strategies. The subsequent steps focused on mobilizing resources for scale-up, advocacy and promotion of the scheme through media, community leaders and role models, capacity building to implementing organs, institutionalizing the scale-up processes, intensifying the scale-upscale-up activities for expansion and spontaneous scale-up and technical backstopping to lower levels of the health system on the scale-up process. We found success and challenges as the scale-upscale-up progressed to mature stages. The success included acceptability and institutionalization of the scale-up activities and growing enrolments and funds in the scheme. The challenges included: the costs to sustaining advocacy and enrolments, equity in scale-upscale-up activities across regions, relying on top-down scale-upscale-up approaches, influence of contextual factors and lack of implementation research alongside the scale-upscale-up process.
Conclusion
This paper underscores the scale up steps and success and challenges of scaling-up a voluntary health insurance scheme in a resource-constrained health system. Sustaining the scale-upscale-up gains will require utilizing program data and experiences to sustainably improve the scheme performance while also harnessing support from stakeholders. Further research is needed to assess equity and quality of outcomes of the scale up.
... The power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with anyone on earth, or with many people simultaneously (Almond Solutions, 2019). The theoretical base for this study is Social Network Theory, which Liu et al. (2017) define as the role of social relationships in transmitting information, channelling personal or media influence and enabling attitudinal or behavioral change. ...
Building and maintaining a personal brand is a critical differentiator for the proactive and professional members of society. Branding is a marketing tool, which helps form a mental representation of a product, service, organisation or an individual. Equally important is communicating your personal brand through various networks. The ascent of the Internet and social media has amplified opportunities to build a personal brand virtually through online networking. Social media allows for the sharing of information through virtual networks and communities. The virtual space offers diverse stages or platforms for people to self-brand their own character with the assistance of the Internet. Personal branding is the process of defining and promoting yourself and what you stand for as an individual.
In this study, an online survey was used to investigate how social media can be used as a networking platform to build a personal brand. The 209 responses were statistically analysed, including Exploratory Factor Analysis. The majority of the respondents used 5 popular social media platforms, namely WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn. The study found that the factor Personal Branding is made up of two components, namely Interpersonal Personal Branding and Intellectual Personal Branding.
... Eigenvector centrality assesses a node's influence based on the quality of its connections as well as its direct connections. We calculated Eigenvector centrality, even though other researchers (Groshek and Tandoc 2016;Himelboim and Golan 2019;Ingenhoff et al. 2021;Liu et al. 2017;Sevin and Manor 2019) have frequently prioritized betweenness centrality for identifying network influencers. Eigenvector centrality's capacity to consider both the number and quality of a user's connections serves as the foundation for this decision. ...
Purpose
This study examines the Twitter/X networks of U.S. ambassadors in Israel, Iraq, and Qatar from 2017 to 2024, aiming to assess how digital diplomacy is conducted through these platforms. Utilizing Sprinklr, we gathered 586,736 mentions involving the ambassadors’ Twitter handles, with a focus on evaluating the influence and communication strategies within these networks.
Design/methodology/approach
We analyzed a random sample of 30,000 tweets from the collected data using network analysis techniques. This approach enabled the examination of centrality metrics within the ambassadors’ digital networks, providing insights into the influence patterns and communicative interactions via Gephi.
Findings
The analysis revealed a significant influence of state actors and established political elites who predominantly engage in unidirectional communication, despite the platforms’ capabilities for interactive and reciprocal dialogues. We identified elected officials and specific non-governmental organizations as key actors shaping the diplomatic narratives, highlighting the diverse yet controlled actor interplay in digital diplomacy.
Practical implications
This research underscores the need for strategic adjustments in digital diplomacy practices to enhance interaction and inclusivity. Our work provides policymakers with insights into leveraging digital platforms for more effective and dynamic diplomatic exchanges.
Social implications
The study illuminates the role of digital platforms as critical venues for shaping diplomatic narratives by both state and non-state actors. Notably, our findings highlight the use of hashtags in advancing human rights movements and in discussions surrounding the Israel–Palestine conflict, demonstrating hashtags’ impact on global and regional advocacy efforts.
Originality/value
This research offers a unique perspective on the integration of traditional diplomatic roles with contemporary digital strategies, particularly highlighting the constraints and potentials within Middle Eastern contexts. We suggest ways to enhance the inclusivity and effectiveness of diplomatic engagements through improved social media utilization, thereby contributing to the evolving field of international relations and public diplomacy.
... Social network theory (SNT) is a valuable tool that considers how technological investment relates to the strategic value of information technology (IT) based on different attributes of resources and business performance capabilities in EMs (Liu et al., 2017). This study gives significant exposure to SME business policymakers and implementers, including governments, entrepreneurs and owners/managers, concerning how DMTs have changed the scope of SMEs' business and the facilitation of two-way communication and the profit maximisation of SMEs' success in Ems. ...
... 2.2 Theory grounding the study: social network theory This research is grounded in SNT, which was introduced in the 1890 s in the study of the structure of society and business. SNT was popularised by Jacob Moreno in the 1930s in EMs (Liu et al., 2017) and mathematically formalised in the 1950s to study interpersonal relationships among SMEs in EMs. SNT is a theoretical model that emphasises the importance of social relations for business in EMs, a complex, interdisciplinary field that draws from sociology and psychology (Liu et al., 2017). ...
... SNT was popularised by Jacob Moreno in the 1930s in EMs (Liu et al., 2017) and mathematically formalised in the 1950s to study interpersonal relationships among SMEs in EMs. SNT is a theoretical model that emphasises the importance of social relations for business in EMs, a complex, interdisciplinary field that draws from sociology and psychology (Liu et al., 2017). SNT in EMs suggests that social actors are influenced by the personal ties of other people in their personal networks (Liu et al., 2017). ...
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the comprehensive conceptualization how digital marketing and its adoption increase the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as the impact of technological orientation, customer relationship management and digital marketing on SMEs’ business performance in emerging markets (EMs).
Design/methodology/approach
Anchored by social network theory, 178 SMEs were conveniently drawn from the National Board for Small Scale Industries now Ghana enterprise agencies in Ghana. The hypotheses were analysed using the SPSS package tool, and structural equation modelling was used, as well.
Findings
This study reveals that the conceptualization and adoption of digital marketing positively affect the performance of SMEs’ business management in EMs. In addition, a positive moderating effect of dynamism is observed in the relationship between digital marketing and SMEs’ business performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses only on SMEs from the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions of Ghana as an EM, and it proposes priorities for future research streams in both developed and emerging countries.
Practical implications
The findings encourage SMEs to develop quality digital marketing technologies, good customer relationships and technological orientation and customer relationship management competencies in EMs to maximise profit.
Originality/value
This paper fills considerable knowledge, evidence and contextual gaps in the literature on SMEs, entrepreneurship and marketing in EMs by presenting a comprehensive overview of how SMEs can use digital marketing in an EM context to achieve the following: customer acquisitions, satisfaction and retention; increased profitability; quality service delivery; value creation; and cost reductions.
... The adoption of social media in construction activities is underpinned by several theoretical frameworks that provide insights into the rationale and benefits of its implementation. One such framework is the Social Network Theory, which emphasizes the importance of social connections and interactions in achieving objectives within a network (Liu et al., 2017). In the context of construction, social media platforms serve as a virtual network where various stakeholders can establish and nurture relationships, share information and collaborate effectively. ...
... For instance, the Social Network Theory, which emphasizes the importance of social connections and interactions within a network, is reflected in the high importance placed on project management and communication. By facilitating better connectivity among stakeholders, social media platforms help create networks that are essential for project success (Liu et al., 2017). This aligns with the observed significance of social media in enhancing communication and collaboration within construction projects. ...
... Additionally, the Social Network Theory, which emphasizes the role of social connections in achieving objectives, is evident in the benefits associated with trust-building and collaboration. According to Liu et al. (2017), social media platforms facilitate the creation and maintenance of these crucial networks, thereby enhancing project outcomes. Furthermore, the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory highlights how innovations spread through early adopters' influence. ...
Purpose
In several developing contexts, the delivery of Architecture, Engineering Construction and Operation (AECO) projects continually grapples with issues such as fragmented communication, a lack of transparency, safety and risk management concerns. These problems result from the use of traditional construction practices and insufficient technology integration. Therefore, there is a pressing need to enhance communication, transparency and collaboration within construction projects in these countries through the improved utilization of innovative tools. Consequently, this study empirically assesses both the application areas and the benefits associated with the adoption of social media within the Nigerian construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a quantitative research approach that utilized a structured questionnaire to collect responses from construction professionals. The respondents were selected using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques, resulting in a 75% response rate. Data analysis included mean score value (MSV), standard deviations and normality testing (Shapiro-Wilk) to assess data characteristics. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test was used for further analysis due to the ordinal nature of the data.
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that social media can be effectively used in project management, communication, safety management, as well as marketing and branding of AECO projects. The most significant benefits of using social media in construction activities include building trust and credibility, enhancing crisis communication and improving project collaboration.
Originality/value
This study introduces a fresh perspective by showcasing the transformative potential of social media, traditionally viewed as a communication tool, in addressing complex issues in construction project delivery. Consequently, the findings of this study can offer a paradigm shift in the way construction professionals, policymakers and industry stakeholders perceive and harness the capabilities of social media.
... SN refers to relatively stable systems of relationships formed among members of a social group through interactions. SN focus on the interactions and connections between individuals, and these interactions and connections can influence people's social behavior (Liu et al., 2017;Chaudhuri et al., 2021). Interaction with other farmers, professionals, and organizations can Adoption of climate change mitigation increase farmers' cognition and awareness of climate change, the impact of climate change on their livelihoods and communities, and their important role in mitigating its effects (Fisher et al., 2018;Dapilah et al., 2020;Shukla et al., 2019b). ...
Purpose
This paper investigates the ways digital media applications in rural areas have transformed the influence of social networks (SN) on farmers' adoption of various climate change mitigation measures (CCMM), and explores the key mechanisms behind this transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyzes data from 1,002 farmers’ surveys. First, a logit model is used to measure the impact of SN on the adoption of different types of CCMM. Then, the interaction term between digital media usage (DMU) and SN is introduced to analyze the moderating effect of digital media on the impact of SN. Finally, a conditional process model is used to explore the mediating mechanism of agricultural socialization services (ASS) and the validity of information acquisition (VIA).
Findings
The results reveal that: (1) SN significantly promotes the adoption of CCMM and the marginal effect of this impact varies with different kinds of technologies. (2) DMU reinforces the effectiveness of SN in promoting farmers' adoption of CCMM. (3) The key mechanisms of the process in (2) are the ASS and the VIA.
Originality/value
This study shows that in the context of DMU, SN’s promotion effect on farmers' adoption of CCMM is strengthened.
... We can also look at our results through the lens of social network theory [34]. Participants in GPPC at the Mount Sinai Academic FHT, became part of a social network for their labour, birth and early parenting journey by developing relationships with their healthcare providers, partners and fellow participants through the group process. ...
Background
Group prenatal care (GPC) has been shown to have a positive impact on social support, patient knowledge and preparedness for birth. We developed an interprofessional hybrid model of care whereby the group perinatal care (GPPC) component was co-facilitated by midwives (MW) and family medicine residents (FMR) and alternating individual visits were provided by family physicians (FP’s) within our academic family health team (FHT) In this qualitative study, we sought to explore the impact of this program and how it supports patients through pregnancy and the early newborn period.
Methods
Qualitative study that was conducted using semi-structured telephone interviews with 18 participants who had completed GPPC in the Mount Sinai Academic Family Health Team in Toronto, Canada and delivered between November 2016 and October 2018. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted by team members using grounded theory.
Results
Four over-arching themes emerged from the data: (i) Participants highly valued information they received from multiple trusted sources, (ii) Participants felt well cared for by the collaborative and coordinated interprofessional team, (iii) The design of GPPC enabled a shared experience, allowing for increased support of the pregnant person, and (iv) GPPC facilitated a supportive transition into the community which positively impacted participants’ emotional well- being.
Conclusions
The four constructs of social support (emotional, informational, instrumental and appraisal) were central to the value that participants found in GPPC. This support from the team of healthcare providers, peers and partners had a positive impact on participants’ mental health and helped them face the challenges of their transition to parenthood.
... También se determinó una de las teorías que se adecuan al tema de estudio: la Teoría de Redes Sociales. De acuerdo con Lal (2017), esta teoría forma la base para estudiar el intercambio de recursos entre actores y su impacto en sus creencias o comportamiento, mientras que Liu et al. (2017) manifiestan que ofrece una perspectiva distinta y un conjunto de herramientas para comprender los efectos de los medios sociales, lo que permite considerar cómo las estructuras micro y macrosociales median y moderan los efectos en estos medios. ...
The objective of this study was to examine the factors influencing user satisfaction with digital payment methods in emerging contexts. Data were collected through 258 surveys conducted with Mexican users and were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results indicate that security and privacy, customer service, convenient payment, and information quality are factors that determine user satisfaction with online payment methods. This research contributes to the analysis of user experiences of online payment services for the acquisition of products and services over the internet.
