7, Option 1

This semester a friend of mine has been working on a personal project and I have been helping him with it. As mentioned in the Cornell Daily Sun, on various online outlets, and even as part of Professor Hancock’s lectures, a senior Comm. Major, Alex Kresovich, has been producing a hip-hop album for charity and I have been on of his team members working on this project. I have been working for Alex as his “publicist” and one of my duties was to create a Facebook group promoting the album and providing news about its’ release. The Facebook group I have made satisfies Tonnies Gemeinshaft view of communities that Haythornwaite describes in her article.

In “Social Networks and Online Community”, Haythornwaite describes online venues “to provide the shared purpose, common language, affective relations and group orientation characteristic of Gemeinschaft” (Haythornwaite). By creating the Facebook group “The Crowned Prince is Coming” (http://cornell.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19596596296) I have in turn created a community of people who share the common interests of promoting this album, hip hop music, and supporting Alex.

As Haythornwaite states, social networks are made up of actors who are related through ties. In my Facebook group, the actors would be the group members who exhibit both strong and weak ties. There are many strong ties within this network, such as Alex’s team members who have been helping him with the album. These team members (myself included) have been meeting face to face as well as communicating through emails and Facebook messages. This combination of FtF and CMC is an example of Etzioni and Etzioni (1999) synergies. Since we met several times in person and then continued to communicate through CMC, we were able to be more effective than if we had only used one mode of communication. Another example of synergy in this network occurred when we had an album release party last weekend. The party allowed the Facebook members to get together and celebrate the release of Alex’s album. Many people who were group members but didn’t know each other were able to meet. Also, the party fostered pride and support for Alex and his album that wouldn’t occur if the network relied solely upon CMC.

These people who met at the party but didn’t know each other beforehand would be considered weak ties. They were members of the same group and supported the same cause, however they were merely acquaintances. This shows how a social network online can allow for exposure to new information. Through belonging to the same network, people who did not know each other were able to meet. Also, the Facebook group existed as an outlet for people to find others who were interested in the same type of music and share information that they would not have otherwise known about had they not been in the group. For example, a friend from one of my past internships joined the group to support met, and found out that after joining the group there was someone in the group who could help him out with his own music career.

The Crowned Prince is Coming has proved to be a very successful network with almost 500 people. It has helped foster support and awareness of the production of a charity hip hop album and allowed for many people to connect through common interests. I am proud to have made my very own social network!