John Kelly

My colleague George Barnett has edited the Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis.

I contributed four entries with co-authors:

WWW Hyperlink Networks

with Robert Ackland, Australian National University

Email networks

with Derek Hansen, Brigham Young University

Blog networks

with John Kelly, Morningside Analytics, Harvard Berkman Center

Facebook networks

with Bernie Hogan, Oxford Internet Institute

Description:

This two-volume encyclopedia provides a thorough introduction to the wide-ranging, fast-developing field of social networking, a much-needed resource at a time when new social networks or “communities” seem to spring up on the internet every day. Social networks, or groupings of individuals tied by one or more specific types of interests or interdependencies ranging from likes and dislikes, or disease transmission to the “old boy” network or overlapping circles of friends, have been in existence for longer than services such as Facebook or YouTube; analysis of these networks emphasizes the relationships within the network. The Encyclopedia of Social Networks offers comprehensive coverage of the theory and research within the social sciences that has sprung from the analysis of such groupings, with accompanying definitions, measures, and research.

Featuring approximately 350 signed entries, along with approximately 40 media clips, organized alphabetically and offering cross-references and suggestions for further readings, this encyclopedia opens with a thematic reader’s guide in the front that groups related entries by topics. A chronology offers the reader historical perspective on the study of social networks. This two-volume reference work is a must-have resource for libraries serving researchers interested in the various fields related to social networks, including sociology, social psychology and communication and media studies.

I spoke about social media with Natalia Martín Cantero, RTVE blogger and professor in digital new reporting at IE School of Communication–IE University in Segovia, Spain along with my colleague John Kelly, from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University and Founder of Morningside Analytics. The video was recorded at the symposium on Transnational connections: Challenges and opportunities for communication.

In this video interview, John and I summarize the themes discussed at the symposium including the political implications of inequality of technology access and the literacy to use it. John describes his efforts to map the global blogosphere and I describe the ways social media creates social networks that can be extracted and mapped. What does it take to be a communicator in a digital media environment? We discuss the privacy rights of public data and the use of data in ethical ways. Not everyone with a fiber-optic cable and server room operates under ethical guidelines. Given that digital communication is inherently traceable communication, could it be that not everyone should take the risks of communicating? Digital communication makes messages more findable and available which is a virtue when you want your message heard widely. It is getting harder to limit distribution of content to select audiences. I like to argue that the destiny of all information is to be made public if only because information never becomes less public.