An Analysis of the Social Network Structure of Knowledge Management Students at NTU
This paper maps the structure of the social network of
the 2011 class ofsixty graduate students of the Masters of Science
(Knowledge Management) programme at the Nanyang Technological
University, based on their friending relationships on Facebook. To
ensure anonymity, actual names were not used. Instead, they were
replaced with codes constructed from their gender, nationality, mode
of study, year of enrollment and a unique number. The relationships
between friends within the class, and among the seniors and alumni
of the programme wereplotted. UCINet and Pajek were used to plot
the sociogram, to compute the density, inclusivity, and degree,
global, betweenness, and Bonacich centralities, to partition the
students into two groups, namely, active and peripheral, and to
identify the cut-points. Homophily was investigated, and it was
observed for nationality and study mode. The groups students formed
on Facebook were also studied, and of fifteen groups, eight were
classified as dead, which we defined as those that have been inactive
for over two months.
[1] Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved on
March 5, 2012 from:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-
%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf
[2] White, D. S., & Le Cornu, A. (2011).Visitors and Residents: A new
typology for online engagement. Retrieved on March 5, 2012 from:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3
171/3049
[3] Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of
Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students- use of online
social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,
12(4), 1143-1168.
[4] Experian. (2011). The local network: Experian analysis highlights which
countries spend longest on Facebook. Retrieved on April 12, 2012,
from: http://www.experianplc.com/news/company-news/2011/27-09-
2011.aspx
[5] Thompson, E.C. (2009). Mobile phones, communities and social
networks among foreign workers in Singapore. Global Networks, 9(3),
359´Ç¡380.
[6] Adamic, L.A., Buyukkokten, O., & Adar, E. (2003). A social network
caught in the Web. First Monday, 8(6). Retrieved April 5, 2012 from:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1
057/977
[7] Ferguson, C. (2010). Online social networking goes to college: Two case
studies of higher education institutions that implemented college-created
social networking sites for recruiting undergraduate students. Ed.D.
dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, United States - Pennsylvania.
Retrieved February 22, 2012, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text
(Publication No. AAT 3410480).
[8] Stutzman, F. D. (2010). Networked Information Behavior in Life
Transition. Ph.D. dissertation. School of Information and Library
Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC.
[9] Barkhuus, L., & Tashiro, J. (2010) Student Socialization in the Age of
Facebook. Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human
factors in computing systems (CHI, 2010)
[10] Kapucu, N., Yuldashev, F., Demiroz, F., & Arslan, T. (2010). Social
network analysis (SNA) applications in evaluating MPA classes. Journal
of Public Affairs Education, 16(4), 541-563.
[11] Granovetter, M. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal
of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380.
[12] Wasserman, S. & Faust, K. 1994. Social Network Analysis. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
[13] Hanneman, R.A. (2001). Introduction to social network methods.
Riverside: University of California Riverside.
[14] Galaskiewicz, J., & Wasserman, S. (1994). Introduction advances in the
social and behavioral sciences from social network analysis. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
[15] Scott, J. (2000). Social network analysis: A handbook. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.
[16] Freeman, L.C. (1979). Centrality in social networks conceptual
clarification. Social Networks, 1(3), 215-239.
[17] Wenger, E., McDermott, R., and Snyder, W.M. (2002). Cultivating
communities of practice. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
[18] Trenholm, S. (1986). Human Communication Theory. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[19] Selwyn, N. (2009). Faceworking: Exploring students- Education-related
use of "Facebook". Learning, Media and Technology, 34(2), 157−174.
[20] Santos, I.M., Hammond, M., Durli, Z., & Chou S.-Y. (2009). Is there a
role for social networking sites in education? Proceedings of the 9th IFIP
TC3 World Conference on Computers in Education (WCCE 2009),
321−330.
[21] Roblyer, M.D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J.V.
(2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of
college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking
sites. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 134−140.
[22] Joinson, A.N. (2008). ÔÇÿLooking at-, ÔÇÿLooking up- or "keeping up with-
people? Motives and uses of Facebook. Proceedings of the 26th annual
SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-
10, 2008
[23] De Villiers, R. (2010). Academic use of a group on Facebook: Initial
findings and perceptions. Proceedings of Informing Science & IT
Education Conference (InSITE 2010), 173−190.
[24] Dertouzos, M.L. (1997). What will be: How the new world of
information will change our lives. New York: Harper Edge.
[1] Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved on
March 5, 2012 from:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-
%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf
[2] White, D. S., & Le Cornu, A. (2011).Visitors and Residents: A new
typology for online engagement. Retrieved on March 5, 2012 from:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3
171/3049
[3] Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of
Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students- use of online
social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,
12(4), 1143-1168.
[4] Experian. (2011). The local network: Experian analysis highlights which
countries spend longest on Facebook. Retrieved on April 12, 2012,
from: http://www.experianplc.com/news/company-news/2011/27-09-
2011.aspx
[5] Thompson, E.C. (2009). Mobile phones, communities and social
networks among foreign workers in Singapore. Global Networks, 9(3),
359´Ç¡380.
[6] Adamic, L.A., Buyukkokten, O., & Adar, E. (2003). A social network
caught in the Web. First Monday, 8(6). Retrieved April 5, 2012 from:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1
057/977
[7] Ferguson, C. (2010). Online social networking goes to college: Two case
studies of higher education institutions that implemented college-created
social networking sites for recruiting undergraduate students. Ed.D.
dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, United States - Pennsylvania.
Retrieved February 22, 2012, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text
(Publication No. AAT 3410480).
[8] Stutzman, F. D. (2010). Networked Information Behavior in Life
Transition. Ph.D. dissertation. School of Information and Library
Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC.
[9] Barkhuus, L., & Tashiro, J. (2010) Student Socialization in the Age of
Facebook. Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human
factors in computing systems (CHI, 2010)
[10] Kapucu, N., Yuldashev, F., Demiroz, F., & Arslan, T. (2010). Social
network analysis (SNA) applications in evaluating MPA classes. Journal
of Public Affairs Education, 16(4), 541-563.
[11] Granovetter, M. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal
of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380.
[12] Wasserman, S. & Faust, K. 1994. Social Network Analysis. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
[13] Hanneman, R.A. (2001). Introduction to social network methods.
Riverside: University of California Riverside.
[14] Galaskiewicz, J., & Wasserman, S. (1994). Introduction advances in the
social and behavioral sciences from social network analysis. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
[15] Scott, J. (2000). Social network analysis: A handbook. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.
[16] Freeman, L.C. (1979). Centrality in social networks conceptual
clarification. Social Networks, 1(3), 215-239.
[17] Wenger, E., McDermott, R., and Snyder, W.M. (2002). Cultivating
communities of practice. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
[18] Trenholm, S. (1986). Human Communication Theory. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[19] Selwyn, N. (2009). Faceworking: Exploring students- Education-related
use of "Facebook". Learning, Media and Technology, 34(2), 157−174.
[20] Santos, I.M., Hammond, M., Durli, Z., & Chou S.-Y. (2009). Is there a
role for social networking sites in education? Proceedings of the 9th IFIP
TC3 World Conference on Computers in Education (WCCE 2009),
321−330.
[21] Roblyer, M.D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J.V.
(2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of
college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking
sites. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 134−140.
[22] Joinson, A.N. (2008). ÔÇÿLooking at-, ÔÇÿLooking up- or "keeping up with-
people? Motives and uses of Facebook. Proceedings of the 26th annual
SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-
10, 2008
[23] De Villiers, R. (2010). Academic use of a group on Facebook: Initial
findings and perceptions. Proceedings of Informing Science & IT
Education Conference (InSITE 2010), 173−190.
[24] Dertouzos, M.L. (1997). What will be: How the new world of
information will change our lives. New York: Harper Edge.
@article{"International Journal of Information, Control and Computer Sciences:58298", author = "Guo Yanru and Zhu Xiaobo and Lee Chu Keong", title = "An Analysis of the Social Network Structure of Knowledge Management Students at NTU", abstract = "This paper maps the structure of the social network of
the 2011 class ofsixty graduate students of the Masters of Science
(Knowledge Management) programme at the Nanyang Technological
University, based on their friending relationships on Facebook. To
ensure anonymity, actual names were not used. Instead, they were
replaced with codes constructed from their gender, nationality, mode
of study, year of enrollment and a unique number. The relationships
between friends within the class, and among the seniors and alumni
of the programme wereplotted. UCINet and Pajek were used to plot
the sociogram, to compute the density, inclusivity, and degree,
global, betweenness, and Bonacich centralities, to partition the
students into two groups, namely, active and peripheral, and to
identify the cut-points. Homophily was investigated, and it was
observed for nationality and study mode. The groups students formed
on Facebook were also studied, and of fifteen groups, eight were
classified as dead, which we defined as those that have been inactive
for over two months.", keywords = "Facebook, friending relationships, Social network
analysis, social network sites, structural position", volume = "6", number = "10", pages = "1228-9", }
