How is your social network?

[CivCube]

I'll just throw out a few for discussion. Feel free to answer one, some, or all of them.

- How big is your social network?
- Is it the right size for you?
- How did you get to that point?
- How homogeneous/diverse is your circle(s)?
- Do you have more than one circle/network?
- Are you satisfied with the network you have now?
- How does Facebook/MySpace/etc. factor into your networking?

 

[Tee Kay]

Except for CFC (debatable), I don't have one.

 

[Ajidica]

I'll just throw out a few for discussion. Feel free to answer one, some, or all of them.

- How big is your social network?

Pretty decent size. It is bigger then my HS network, but I don't know many of the people quite as well, which will change as time goes on.

- Is it the right size for you?

Yep, possibly a little larger though.

- How did you get to that point?

Not sure what the question is asking. I made friends with people who are in my classes, dorm, clubs, friends of friends, and so on.

- How homogeneous/diverse is your circle(s)?

I go to a private Catholic university in Minnesota. How diverse do you think it is?

- Do you have more than one circle/network?

Sort of. The two main groups are Policy Nerds and Gaming Nerds.

- Are you satisfied with the network you have now?

I guess so.

- How does Facebook/MySpace/etc. factor into your networking?

Not at all. I never touched MySpace and I'm terrible about using Facebook.

 

[amadeus]

I have about sixty Facebook contacts. About ten are close friends. Of my Facebook contacts, about 4/5ths are people I know from my time in Nagasaki.

 

[Narz]

I don't really have "a" social network, I have multiple social networks. None of them really do it for me on most levels but all do something for me on some level.

My largest social network (IRL) revolves around people I know who hang out at a gaming store.

I don't consider people I "know" online but who I've never met really part of my social network. Posting on the Internet is not time spent socially, it's more like time spent alone but I don't want to be lonely time.

 

[ZeletDude]

-

How big is your social network?

15-20 people I'd say, but 3-5 really close friends.

- Is it the right size for you?

Seeing as I've been a loner for a while this a great number

- How did you get to that point?

Reconnected with people, met others, some were friends of my friends.. etc

- How homogeneous/diverse is your circle(s)?

Mostly white (but it's Idaho..) TBH I have more close girlfriends than boy friends.. but over all it's probably equal.

- Do you have more than one circle/network?

I usually only hang out with one group, but I have friends who are in many different cliques

- Are you satisfied with the network you have now?

Yeaah

- How does Facebook/MySpace/etc. factor into your networking?

Better contact and planning for events .

 

[GenMarshall]

I have none .

 

[stormerne]

I've no idea how big my social network is; this is one case where size is not important!
It's very diverse, both in network type and network content.
Don't use/won't use Facebook or MySpace.
Do use Twitter for creative art.
Do use several niche sites like this one, some for distraction, some for work.
Do use virtual reality such as Second Life for work and friendship.
Do use an odd thing called Real Life™ for a lot more.
I've no complaints at all.

 

[downtown]

I'll just throw out a few for discussion. Feel free to answer one, some, or all of them.

- How big is your social network?

How do we define social network? I have a few dozen people that I see and talk to regularly, but since I've moved around so much, my network could also easily extend into the hundreds.

- Is it the right size for you? .

Sure. I'm not lonely, and I have a couch to crash on anywhere in the US if I want one.

- How did you get to that point?

I'm a networker by personality. I've also been a part of several groups that sort of have a built in network...from my career, to my church, to my political work, to my university, (which is HUGE).

- How homogeneous/diverse is your circle(s)?

Of the people I regularly hang out with in Chicago, I'd say over half are Mormon...but in my greater friend group, it's actually very diverse...socioeconomically, racially and religiously.

- Are you satisfied with the network you have now?

Sure, but I could always use more. In my industry, knowing tons of people, even superficially, is a major professional advantage.

I have around 930 facebook friends, and I actually "know" over 700 of them.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Non-existant; I'm a hermit.

Unfortunately this doesn't stop being called on my cell phone incessantly by an annoying family member.

 

[Camikaze]

I have 20-30 people who I regularly invite to things, and that's a group entirely composed of high school friends and a couple of others who I know via high school friends. I guess high school based social groups are dominant here, because of the different university system (most people commute, so your year group doesn't disperse nearly as much at the end of high school). It's not like it's a very diverse bunch of people. All 19-21 uni students, so solidly middle class urban/suburbanites (none from the North Shore, so not upper class, and the few from much further west are still definitely middle). A mix of politics, religion, ethnicity, but that's not really all that relevant to the defining characteristics.

It seems about the right size for me, though bigger is always nicer (to the extent that you maintain the same level of individual relationship within a bigger network). I guess I can't ask for too much more, though given everything is high school based, it does mean less of a university based social grouping, because people don't really have a need to go out of their way to find one, as you would if you were living in college or something.

 

[azzaman333]

I'll just throw out a few for discussion. Feel free to answer one, some, or all of them.

- How big is your social network?

Pretty small. I have maybe 3 friends I really trust, another 3 or 4 I'd call good friends, and a handful more people I'm friendly with, but only really meet up with through mutual friends.

- Is it the right size for you?

Probably not big enough.

- How did you get to that point?

Luck. I tend to drive people away, intentionally or otherwise, so it's nice when people stick it out for a while.

- How homogeneous/diverse is your circle(s)?

Generally middle class, white, Christian.

- Do you have more than one circle/network?

Arguably 4, being people I knew from high school, people I knew because of uni, people I knew because of a particular friend, and people I knew from the internet.

- Are you satisfied with the network you have now?

Nope.

- How does Facebook/MySpace/etc. factor into your networking?

Without FaceBook, I'd pretty much be limited to people I knew from the internet, since I tend not to add people I don't know.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Offline, I'm pretty much a loner.

 

[The_J]

No online network (if you don't count us here)
In RL, it's mostly school/university separated. If you don't consider the work background and gender, then the group is pretty diverse.

Size: 50-60 people, but separated into the different groups, and no close friends
Right size? In general yes, but the structure is wrong
How did i get there? That's all accidential
Diverse: Yes, pretty much.
More than one circle: Currently that counts as at least 3.
Satisfied: No, not really. Too split up, partially not close enough, and not big enough. The structure is overall wrong. The people themself are okay.
Online networks: Not at all. Don't use them. If i have to say something to somebody, then these people are normally the same who i see daily. If i don't see them, then i don't know what to talk to them.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

My social network is crazy right now, I was in the army for a year and then was away for many months. This has shaken things around a lot.

My main groups are childhood friends, we still hang out unusually much, work friends and a hangout that my friends and I have built. We have social events several times a week there.

 

[warpus]

I have a social network here at work - a very social atmosphere..

I have some close friends who live here in town, but most of my friends live all over the world.. which kinda sucks, but it helps when I travel!

 

[NedimNapoleon]

Except for CFC (debatable), I don't have one.

I have you on FB

 

[bombshoo]

- How big is your social network?

I have a core group of about three people that I hang out with multiple times a week. Then there is an additional maybe 15 more people that I see at least monthly, sometimes multiple times a week. Beyond that, there is maybe another 30 or so that I see a few times a year and that I am on pretty friendly basis with.

- Is it the right size for you?

Yeah. I could expand or contract it without much effort, so it must be about right.

- How did you get to that point?

Certain friends picked up new friends and interests after high school, others didn't. My core group is composed of two people I knew from high school, and another I met in high school. My outer group is mostly friends of friends, some met through work, college, etc.

- How homogeneous/diverse is your circle(s)?

Not as much as it used to be. My best male three friends are all white males, like me. My girlfriend is Asian though. No one is too religious, but I think anyone who actually is, is Christian. I had two very good Muslim, Turkish friends that were foreign exchange students, but they have since gone back to their country. Still talk occasionally online though.

- Do you have more than one circle/network?

Not really. Used to be that way, but it sort of melded into one.

- Are you satisfied with the network you have now?

Yes.

- How does Facebook/MySpace/etc. factor into your networking?

Facebook is used for party invites and occasionally used as a way to share funny websites and comments, but beyond that not much.