Praxis Makes Perfect

I came across this post from Weblogg-ed today, and spurred some thinking I’ve been doing about “networks”. There has been a lot of punditry these days where various folks tout the rise of networks and the power of technologies which connect people. The intuitive thought is that the Internet, mobile communications, and applications like Facebook etc etc etc create networks of people in ways that we’ve never seen before. I think this point is true, but not as provocative as some would make it seem. Here are some of my quick thoughts on social networks:

1. Social networks have always existed since the dawn of community. In the past our social networks might have been drawn from our village or family unit. The difference is now with the Facebooks in the world, we can “potentially” expand our network with a wider net.
2. Aside from “potentially” connecting people ( note I say potentially because I’d argue that the technology itself is not the causal reason why people choose to connect with someone), or increasing the speed of communication, how is this world REALLY changing all that much? We are changing but it’s not the total chaos many of pundits claim.
3. Is the network beating the brains out of hierarchy? No Way! Maybe in small instances, and anecdotes, we can say technology affords someone the opportunity to circumvent an authority figure. But we as human beings still order things hierarchically, and we still operate under a broader hierarchical social schema.

Let’s not see “networks” as a panacea to whatever we want to “fix”. Social networks have always existed. The more interesting question is to think about how communication technologies change the KINDS of networks we maintain. Much recent research suggests that we have strong and weak ties in our social networks. While using a Facebook allows one to make more weak links to other folks, it does little to affect our strong relationships with folks. What does this say about the potential for collective action? The potential for some random person in your Facebook friends list of doing you a favor or helping you out? These questions are still rooted in understanding our social and individual reasons for living, not some “new” network form.