This week’s assignment
brought about an interesting read in Greenvelt and Schlerth’s (2007) academic article, "Simulating social interaction scenarios
in an office." In the article they discuss employee interaction within an
office setting by comparing digital communications and in-person interaction.
Using graphs and formulas to calculate the most connected nodes, frequency of
interaction, time evolution from the first encounter to the next, the article
uses daily office interaction to explain social networking.
Furthermore, the article
goes on to explain that although email and instant messaging are modernized
tools when communicating with others (internal and external of the office
setting) and a fast way to exchange information, that it “leads to a scale free network in which there are many nodes
with few connections as well as the existence of highly connected hubs, which
foster network cohesion and connections between distant nodes, even in very
large networks (Greenvelt & Schlerth, 2007).
As a result, it appears that digital communication can definitely create a
connection with others, but from the article lacks the one-on-one interaction
with creates higher links (connections) with others that are in the office
setting or long distance. In addition, Greenvelt and Schlerth went on to say
that this formal type of interaction contributes to cohesion within groups
because people are familiar with one another on a daily interactive level. Also
that in smaller environments, it takes people less time to connect compared to
larger groups that have various departments, etc.
I agree with the statements
regarding smaller groups and one-on-one interactions result in better
connections. However, I cannot help but think that digital communication would
do the same since people are now more socially active in this new form of
communication. It would be interesting to see the results of this article go
more in depth about viral interaction and the connections created.
Reference
Bezzi, M., Groenevelt, R.,
& Schlereth, F. (2007). Simulating social interaction scenarios in an
office.
Crystal--
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though an office environment is an ideal population to conduct network design studies, as nodes occupy the same physical boundaries on a consistent basis. My theory application assigment described how positive and negative gossip travels between networks in an organization, so I was able to quickly identify a few similarities. I agree with you that digital communication has seemingly limitless potential to increase the size of one's network as the criteria for cultivating relationships are not limited to face-to-face interaction. This would be a very interesting subject to research further.
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that digital communication is important in the organizational setting, but I do not think that it is the same. I know I email constantly at work, but (if I can be honest) I probably would not be able to recognize that person if I passed him/her on campus. I think that there is still more importance on face-to-face interaction in organizational networks. There are also aspects you cannot detect from digital communications. I agree that more research on the topic would be beneficial.
Hi Megan and Dawn,
DeleteThank you for the feedback. If I had the time to research further, I think there's a lot to learn from digital communication in relation to one-on-one interaction. As I mentioned to Jessica, it's a personal preference in which one works best for a person. In the end a lot of interesting information could possibly result in a research project around this topic.
Crystal, you make some interesting points regarding the use of information technology to forge connections in the workplace. Do you think that relationships can be formed as easily online as they can offline? Are there tasks or situations where relying on mediated communication could be challenging or problematic? Is face-to-face contact necessary for the formation of strong ties?
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteDigital communications such as email has changed the development of relationships both in the office and outside of it. People can create strong ties without ever having met. However, in my field of communications and publicity, email is a constant source of interaction. When I do have the chance to meet a media contact or executive producer in person, there's something about that one-on-one interaction that creates a stronger tie that just digital interaction. So I would say that it depends on the person and form of communication.