A Brief Introduction to Social Network Analysis by Orgnet, LLC. Social network analysis [SNA] is the mapping and measuring of relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, computers, URLs, and other connected information/knowledge entities.
The nodes in the network are the people and groups while the links show relationships or flows between the nodes. SNA provides both a visual and a mathematical analysis of human relationships. Management consultants use this methodology with their business clients and call it Organizational Network Analysis [ONA]. ONA allows you to x-ray your organization and reveal the managerial nervous system that connects everything.
To understand networks and their participants, we evaluate the location and grouping of actors in the network. We look at a social network -- the "Kite Network" above -- developed by David Krackhardt, a leading researcher in social networks. Degree Centrality Betweenness Centrality Closeness Centrality Network Centralization Network Reach Not all network paths are created equal. The Difference between Social Media and Social Networks. Twitter is a social network, but social networks are not Twitter.
Much of the hype about social media obscures a vastly greater opportunity. Although social media types love to tell the rest of us that we “just don’t get it,” the fact is that very few social “gurus”s have actually taken the time to learn anything about social networks. Happily, the joke is on them. Social networks are where the real money is. Why Social Media Marketing is a Doubtful Business Opportunity While the rise of social media over the last decade has opened exciting new opportunities, as a business it has some serious drawbacks.
High Labor Costs: Social media is hard work. That means you have to hire staff, train them well and retain them. If call centers are eminently offshorable, why does it stand to reason that SMM will be a high value added function a decade from now? Zero Transactions: Not only are labor costs high, but they are the sole costs involved. Social Media isn’t Much Better. A Marketer's Introduction to Social Network Analysis. For many, Social Networks begin and end with Social Media, but network analysis is about much more than tweeting.
As the tools improve, Social Network Analysis will become as important to marketing as target group analysis was a generation ago. Understanding networks will help us bring order to the complexity and chaos in the world around us. From how information spreads to managing sales and finding the information we need, networks can help us run our businesses better. Fortunately, all you really need to know about networks, social or otherwise, you can learn on your next airline flight. The Importance of Hubs On your next trip, once you have paid strict attention to the safety procedures, take a look at the airline magazine in the seat pocket in front of you. If you take some time and start counting, you will see a pattern develop.
Mathematicians call this proportional scaling. Another point of interest is the overall proportions. Some airlines choose a hub strategy. How Networks Grow. Is Native Advertising Just Another Term for 'Good Advertising'? The online ad industry is going native.
Consumers' migration to mobile has prompted a do-over in which the dreaded banner ad is being kicked to the curb in favor of messaging that behaves much as other content does. For instance, this BuzzFeed post entitled "15 Reasons Why Cats Are the Most Fearless Creatures" looks just like any other story on the site, but it's actually an ad for retailer Target. That, at least, is the standard definition of native advertising. There is some debate. Ian Shafer, the CEO of DeepFocus, for instance, thinks that ad units like Facebook's Sponsored Stories or Premium Ads are native advertising, but the kind of stuff that editorial operations are doing is just repackaged advertorials.
Shafer's not the only one who's confused.