Unit Structures: Activating Latent Ties

Activating Latent Ties
Posted 5/22/2007 10:00:00 AM |

There are a number of models that enable the integration of social technology into our everyday lives. In the context of online social networks, we've often talked about situational relevance. Here's the basic principle of situational relevance: When a person is entering a new social network, they have information needs. They need to know about the people around them in order to navigate the social network. An online social network that addresses these needs is situationally relevant.

While I certainly agree that people use social technologies for entertainment/time wasting, a huge part of the calculation is also utility. Why did Facebook have such extensive success with college populations? Because it answered relevant social needs. Why do we choose Google over other search engines? Because it is best at answering our information needs. Ultimately, our relationship with information tools is structured around "what does it do for me." The tools that best and most frequently answer our questions are often the most popular.

Today I'd like to discuss another model, one that certainly isn't new but is well worth discussing. In a post yesterday, I talked about the power of latent social ties. Latent social ties are pre-existing social ties that we've deactivated or left behind. As we move through the various social networks of our lives, we develop friendships and ties that we ultimately have to backshelf as we move forward. These are our school friends, ex-coworkers, friends from previous neighborhoods, that sort of thing. No rocket science here.

Many of us would like to have a low-involvement context to get back in touch with these individuals. And there's a plethora of reasons - potential business contacts and networking, catching up, reuniting, etc. Right now, we do this through email, though email is a particularly bad medium for these connections. Yes, it might be fun to write a long-lost bud a huge email filling him in on the details of your life to date, but you're not going to do this every day. Rather, you're going to want to keep them in an address book of sorts...one where you can pop in and check out what is new with your old friend's life.

As one might imagine, online social networks are particularly well suited for this task. The low-involvement, low-effort model of friend maintenance is pretty much what the environment is built for. It's also a useful way to keep people engaged when they arent exploring new, situationally relevant new networks. If you've been at your job or college for a few years, the value of situational relevance declines somewhat, so what can a social network do to keep you engaged? They can certainly get you activating latent ties.

Of course, activating latent ties is somewhat tricky. My undergrad classmates largely aren't on FB, and that reality is even moreso for those who graduated in the 90's, 80's and so on. So how can you create an environment to activate these latent ties? As a list:

The environment must be "accessible" (or comfortable, or usable, or whatever you want to call it). Facebook is particularly well suited for this role, with their emphasis on clean design and usability. Further, it must be easy for users to get on the systems and find their old ties.
Contexts must be respected. One of the main reasons that we feel uncomfortable about the mixing of social networks is the fact we're different things to different people. While Facebook doesn't really foster faceted identity, we can keep our social networks separate, which is a very important facet. It is up to us to provide a palatable identity, but if we can keep our social networks separate, that's almost as valuable.
The activation of ties must be fostered. It isn't an accident that people go to Classmates.com to connect with ex-classmates. The site is set up with the premise of rediscovering old ties. While I think Classmates.com is hopelessly broken, the point is valuable - the activation of latent ties doesn't happen by accident. It happens because people enter the social network with the intention of doing so, and they have the tools for doing so. Therefore, social networks must put effort into this approach - they have to foster the activation of latent ties.

While the answering of situationally relevant social information needs provide motivation for using online social networks, if that is all the user does, they will run into the "what's next" problem. The activation of latent ties may stem this problem; and when you think about all of the potential latent ties we've left behind, you see the potential scope of the market.

Just like situational relevance, the activation of latent ties is something that must be done correctly. It is a unique information transaction and must be treated as such. The online social network that best understands the complications involved in this transaction, and designs appropriately towards these complexities will reap huge rewards from the latent ties market. Of course, I write this with Facebook in mind, as they are the network best situated to benefit from this opportunity. If my Facebook can become the low maintenance, low involvement directory of our lives, it is going to stand alone as a useful information tool. And usefulness, folks, is what its all about.

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3 Comments: (Post a Comment)

At May 22, 2007 11:18 PM, Bertil Hatt said...: I'm not sure that "latent ties" will be the waek ties of the Digital natives. . . But you know them better then I do. Anyway, I'm trying to plan my Ten Years reunion right now, so I'll keep you informed with the latest details---so far LinkedIn appears to be the best, though too expensive for me to use it fully. Too bad oour local version of Classmates is dead.
At May 23, 2007 2:33 PM, Cathy Garland said...: If your readers are interested, there is a learning management system (LMS) that combines these wonderful social networking features with the academic features schools need. This make is easy for students to connect with their peers, collaborate on projects, and feel a part of a community.
At May 23, 2007 2:34 PM, Cathy Garland said...: If your readers are interested, there is a learning management system (LMS) that combines these wonderful social networking features with the academic features schools need. This make is easy for students to connect with their peers, collaborate on projects, and feel a part of a community.

Its called Scholar360 (www.scholar360.com).