7: SNA attributes of Kappa Kappa Gamma

I am currently a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority here at Cornell. It is a group of girls who come together to participate within the Cornell and Ithaca community through philanthropy events, involvement in Cornell’s panhellenic council, and through relations with alumnae, other sororities and fraternities on Cornell’s campus. Even though we identify with each other by being a part of Kappa, we each have our own individual talents and abilities that we use to help each other and others. It requires a pretty large time commitment through meetings every Sunday and constantly taking part in either participating in or planning events. However there is an even bigger time commitment if you decide to become an officer or take a position within the sorority. Haythornwaite studied online communities and social networks and used Social Network Analysis to examine what is exchanged, communicated, and shared within a community. There is an online community facet to Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our Cornell chapter has its own website, an e-mail list serve for the whole chapter, and there are multiple facebook groups, one for the whole sorority, and a separate one for each pledge class. The members of Kappa interact all the time with each other, our advisors, alumni, and other sororities and fraternities on campus. The three aspects of social capital that Haythornwaite discusses are social network, common ground, and reciprocity. Kappa Kappa Gamma has a very rich social network. The sorority as a whole is one community relationship, but there are smaller communities within the larger one, usually based upon pledge class, but can also be based on sports teams or other common organizations that members within the sorority can relate upon.
Common ground is also pretty well developed within Kappa Kappa Gamma. There are many traditions that both our chapter, and other chapters throughout the nation hold. Each member is committed to the sorority which is built through chapter meetings, philanthropy activities and social events. It is understood that each sister is expected to show up to the events and support our sororities cause.
Reciprocity is strong in our sorority because both as a group, and as individuals, we reach out to help our community and in return, receive help as a group and personally.
There are both online and offline synergies that are significant in how the sorority accomplishes tasks. A lot of planning for events is completed in both FTF interactions at chapter meetings. Also many ideas and reminders about events are provided through the e-mail list serve and posts in the facebook groups. The online synergies help to make the larger community of Kappa Kappa Gamma smaller and easier to communicate with its members.