[LINK] "A mild defense of social networks"

[rfmcdonald]

Daniel Drezner recently took on the arguments of Malcolm Gladwell and The Social Network re: the flaws of social networking systems like Facebook.

Let's start with Gladwell, because it's the lesser of the two arguments. Gladwell contrasts the relationships and connections forged on Twitter/Facebook with real-world movements. He argues that the latter work when based on a hierarchical structure with strong ties among the participants. The former is based on a networked structure with weak ties.

[. . . He] doesn't describe networks all that well. Networks eliminate neither hierarchical power nor strong ties -- they're simply expressed in different ways. Actors in central nodes, with lots of dynamic density among other actors, can command both power and discipline. Not all networks will look like this, but the ones successful at fomenting change will likely resemble it. To put it more precisely: social networks lower the transactions costs for creating both weak ties and strong ties, loose collaborations and more tightly integrated social movements.

Drezner also argues--and I most fervently agree--that the implciit argument of The Social Network that Facebook cheapens and weakens relationships is false.

In the end, I like his brief three-stage model of the assimilation of a new technology like Facebook.

) The Mature Generation tends to disdain the technology as yet another example of the world going to hell in a handbasket.

2) For the Maturing Generation, the new technology is both a blessing and a curse. The adroit learn how to use the new technology to vault to social, political or economic heights that they would not have otherwise achieved. At the same time, a new technology without new social norms inevitably creates confusion about what is acceptable and what is taboo. Some people lose status as a result.

3) For the Youngest Generation, the technology isn't new by the time they come to use it. They're savvy in the ways that the technology is both an opportunity and a risk, and can navigate those waters without thinking too hard. For this generatioon, the social technology is part of the new normal.