You Thought You Knew About Social Networks
An anatomy of the ties that bind us
It might sound obvious, but a network is a set of things that are connected. For example, a rail network is a collection of stations connected by rail lines. A railway network is similar to a social network: Some stations are at the edge of the network and connected to the rest of the network by only one line; other stations are major terminals through which a number of lines connect multiple stations.
Some stations are clustered together, forming smaller local networks. An intercity train may carry you between two major city stations, where you would get a local train to a smaller nearby station or move on to the local public transport network. Some stations take you to completely different networks; for example, London to Paris on the Eurostar bridges the UK rail network and the European rail network. Only one train line connects the entire UK and European rail networks, so that line is very important.
Social networks are similarly interconnected groups of people. Like a rail network, they consist of clusters of people who know each other well and links between those clusters. Just like with…
