Impact of social networks on behavior

[Adam Blatner]

cleaning up old email
    Yes, I agree that we need to keep up a variety of angles---
             in addition to the individual, peer group influences, the ? co-unconscious?  , seeking to be accepted by others can be subtle, unconscious, 
    aristo-tele (seeking to partake of the aura of popularity by maneuvering to be close to, liked by the star; or actually being chosen and becoming a little more popular by being the star's associate)
        ...main thing I want to note is that there is a need to become more insightful and specific rather than general; I suspect that there's more research, more to be known. I also have the uneasy feeling that a few of you out there know more than we all do and haven't yet expressed this knowledge or experience in other-than-your peer groups or training groups. My hope is that you may become aware enough of your ideas that you realize that others don't know them, and that this will empower you to write them up, speak up about them, thus leading to their value becoming known to our collective.

      Warmly, Adam
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peter Howie 
  To: list at grouptalkweb.org 
  Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 3:42 PM
  Subject: Re: Impact of social networks on behavior


  Dear Adam and Steve,

  Similar to you Adam I found a few things to pique my interest. Quite an overlap but with a different focus.



    Taken together, these studies and others are fueling a growing recognition that many behaviors are swayed by social networks in ways that have not been fully understood. And it may be possible, the researchers say, to harness the power of these networks for many purposes, such as encouraging safe sex, getting more people to exercise or even fighting crime. (my highlight)

  Philosophically this article is again presenting the rather tired old idea that comes from the positivist tradition that has led to such philosophical abominations (at least to me) as Human Resources and other inhuman relegations of people to defined functions for which we only need to find the right levers and all will be well. 


    "What all these studies do is force us to start to kind of rethink our mental model of how we behave," said Duncan Watts, a Columbia University sociologist. "Public policy in general treats people as if they are sort of atomized individuals and puts policies in place to try to get them to stop smoking, eat right, start exercising or make better decisions about retirement, et cetera. What we see in this research is that we are missing a lot of what is happening if we think only that way."

  Adam rather than think sociometry - how about the basic Morenian idea (at least this is where I learned it) that we are part of a matrix of relationships and our psyche is also part of this web of relationships rather than only within my head?. Rather than sociometry of individuals and hence looking at the strands of tele from one individual to another - seeing that each individual is part of a web of telic relationships and that the psyche rests in these.

  Peer groups rule - is another maxim I follow.

  Cheers

  Peter in Brisbane 


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Grouptalk mailing list
  List at grouptalkweb.org
  http://grouptalkweb.org/mailman/listinfo/list_grouptalkweb.org



------------------------------------------------------------------------------



  No virus found in this incoming message.
  Checked by AVG. 
  Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.24.1/1466 - Release Date: 5/25/2008 6:49 PM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://grouptalkweb.org/pipermail/list_grouptalkweb.org/attachments/20080621/5404a244/attachment.html