Social networks in transnational
and virtual communities
Nathan Vivian
Fay Sudweeks
School of Information Technology
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
n.vivian@murdoch.edu.au
sudweeks@murdoch.edu.au
Question

Why do some communities survive and
some disintegrate?
or more importantly …

How are today’s communities created and
maintained?
Social Networks



Social networks can explain how communities are
created and maintained.
Individuals create interpersonal bonds with others
within their social network that are interwoven
with the social institutions of their society.
These interwoven patterns and matrices can
facilitate the success or failure of societies and
organisations that depend on these networks.
Social Networks

Social ties are not fixed. Networks are constantly
being socially constructed and altered by their
members.

Interpersonal relations within social networks cut
across traditional boundaries such as
neighbourhood, workplace, kinship and class.
Social Networks

Sociologist in the 1950s anticipated
disconnectedness, loss of community and weakly
supportive relationships due to “rapid
modernisation”.

Yet the realisation of the Internet and modern
technologies have provided for community
creation well beyond expectation.
Social Networks

How have social networks facilitated
communities?

A proposed framework helps to explain how social
networks facilitate the creation and maintenance
of communities regardless of size and
communication medium.
In particular we look at transnational communities
and virtual communities.

Transnational Communities

“Migration is a process that both depends on and
creates social networks” (Portes, 1995)
 Transnational communities are characterised by
perpetual back and forth border crossing movements
among migrants.
 Communities whose mobility is celebrated as being
“neither here nor there” (Portes)
 Communities whose mobility is a drama of
displacement, destitution, and ultimate homelessness
(Torres-Saillant)
Virtual Communities
• “The online social network provided a venue for
storytelling, showcasing, projects and best
practices that could be leveraged to create new
knowledge resources” (Kimball & Rheingold, 2000)
• People who are geographically separated or “on the
road” need a way of maintaining contact, whether they
are part of a large community or an organisational
project team.
• Virtual settlements.
Basic
Connections
Relationships
Social
Spaces
Identity/
Belonging
Groups/Teams
Key Members
Social
Structures
Social
Capital
Social
Formation
Social Spaces

Social spaces are:
 place-centered (embedded in particular location)
 trans-territorial (geographically disparate but intensely
connected)

and social spaces:
 are where individuals first meet and develop contacts
 provide the initial medium to form and maintain basic
connections which enable individuals to create
relationships
 create the identity or belongingness of the community
(e.g. campus, shopping mall, town squares).
Encourages the notion of belonging, especially in respect to a community
Provides the initial
medium and
maintains …
Basic
Connections
Can enable
individuals to
create …
Meeting areas of common
interest provide for …
Social
Spaces
Communicate through
the common medium
Relationships
Form/Change
Groups/Teams
Key members often control and
utilise different forms of
communication to maintain their
networks, hence social capital
Social spaces and places are new areas
where people can meet, communicate
with others and assimilate, providing
the initial medium to form and
maintain basic connections, which in
turn enable individuals to create
relationships.
Members often have a feeling
of belonging and therefore
come back
Effect of relational
embeddedness
Identity/
Belonging
Strengthens
Assist in forming strong
bonds with members of the
community
Embedded community
members affect …
Key Members
Social
Structures
A direct and sometimes
transparent relationship
Embedded
community members
mobilise …
Social
Formation
Social
Capital
Social Formation

Relationships exist between individuals or
between groups which are mostly dynamic but
strengthen a sense of identity and belonging in
groups and teams.
 Notion of community consciousness


These groups are often in different social arenas,
but are identifiable in any community.
The key members of these groups are those who
are stakeholders within their community.
Social Formation


Key members use communication and social
spaces to maintain their networks.
Community members are embedded in the
community in two ways:
 how they relate personally to each other (relational
embeddedness)
 how social relationships affect social structures
(structural embeddedness)
Encourages the notion of belonging, especially in respect to a community
Provides the initial
medium and
maintains …
Basic
Connections
Can enable
individuals to
create …
Meeting areas of common
interest provide for …
Social
Spaces
Relationships
Communicate through
the common medium
Form/Change
Groups/Teams
Key members often control and
utilise different forms of
communications to maintain
their networks, hence social
capital
Members often have a feeling
of belonging and therefore
come back
Effect of relational
embeddedness
Identity/
Belonging
Strengthens
Assist in forming strong
bonds with members of the
community
Embedded community
members affect …
Key Members
Social
Structures
A direct and sometimes
transparent relationship
Social formation and social
structures are dependent on the
relationships of the community
members.
Embedded
community members
mobilise …
Social
Formation
Social
Capital
Social Capital

Social capital is defined as a player’s level of
cooperativeness within a social network.
 A social network is a set of players and a pattern of exchange of
information and/or goods among these players.


Social capital is developed and maintained over time
through regular communication, participation in events and
membership of associations.
Participation alone is not capital building – reciprocation is
required.
Encourages the notion of belonging, especially in respect to a community
Provides the initial
medium and
maintains …
Basic
Connections
Can enable
individuals to
create …
Meeting areas of common
interest provide for …
Social
Spaces
Communicate through
the common medium
Relationships
Form/Change
Groups/Teams
Key members often control and
utilise different forms of
communication to maintain
their networks, hence social
capital
Members often have a feeling
of belonging and therefore
come back
Effect of relational
embeddedness
Identity/
Belonging
Strengthens
Assist in forming strong
bonds with members of the
community
Embedded community
members affect …
Key Members
Social
Structures
A direct and sometimes
transparent relationship
The resources of any player is not
the social capital, rather it is the
individual’s ability to mobilise that
capital on demand.
Embedded
community members
mobilise …
Social
Formation
Social
Capital
Encourages the notion of belonging, especially in respect to a community
Provides the initial
medium and
maintains
Basic
Connections
Can enable
individuals to
create
Meeting areas of common
interest provide for
Social
Spaces
Relationships
Communicate through
the common medium
Form/Change
Groups/Teams
Key members often control and
utilise different forms of
communications to maintain
their networks, hence social
capital
Members often have a feeling
of belonging and therefore
come back
Effect of relational
embeddedness
Identity/
Belonging
Strengthens
Assist in forming strong
bonds with members of the
community
Embedded community
members affect
Key Members
Social
Structures
A direct and sometimes
transparent relationship
Embedded
community members
mobilise
Social
Formation
Social
Capital
Transnational Communities

Not only individual people migrate, but their
social networks migrate also.
 Social networks are crucial for finding jobs,
accommodation, psychological support, social and
economic information.
 Migration is a process of network building, which
reinforces social relationships across space.
Virtual Communities

Virtual community members bring offline values
and interactions in their online communities.
 Many believe that virtual communities are
sociologically the same as their “brick and mortar”
counterparts.
Conclusions

Social networks do not depend on one relationship
or on any particular social space in which people
meet.

Social networks depend on the process of creating
relationships, embedding oneself into the social
structure – whether the structure be transterritorial or virtually co-located – and the ability
to mobilise social capital.
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