7.1 SWIB: Bet You Can't Guess What It Stands For

As Haythornthwaite describes in his paper, a community is made up of a web of affect-laden relationships that encompasses a group of individuals; they are relationships that crisscross and reinforce one another, which reinforces bonding among members. In addition, a community requires commitment to a set of shared values, mores and culture. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) can be used to examine what makes up a community and how its members interact by studying elements of social capital, which include, common ground, reciprocity and networking.

One community I decided to join upon my arrival to Cornell was the Society for Women in Business (SWIB). As it states on the website, it is a community that provides a positive networking and social environment for aspiring business professionals by having members participate in business-oriented meetings, events, panel discussions and philanthropy. The members meet every other Wednesday at 5:30 PM and also attend various company sponsored events (Lehman Brothers, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Goldman Sachs etc).

Haythornthwaite states, “social network analysis focuses on what is happening between people, within collectives and across boundaries, in order to find what kind of collective exists” (pg 124-125). We can describe social networks as a network that is comprised of as actors (e-board, faculty advisor, undergraduate members, Johnson School’s Women’s Management Council) tied together by various relationships. A social network is formed when these ties intertwine with one another. We delineate strong ties from weak ties by how frequent interaction is (high for strong, low for weak) and how much common ground (high for strong, low for weak).

Common ground is a major factor in this community since SWIB is a club based off of all the members having the same future interest of going into business and being successful women. Strong ties are strongest when we connect with those who are most similar to us and have very similar aspirations. All the members of the SWIB community, have similar interests however, some of the ties within members can be stronger than others due to differences in common ground. Business is a very broad field and has so many different areas. As a result, a member who sees herself going into investment banking may have stronger ties with members who also want a career in Ibanking, than with members who want to go into other fields like, entrepreneurship.

Reciprocity also plays a major role in strengthening our community’s ties. When people have strong ties and belong to the same community, members have a tendency to ask for and receive help and information from one another. Generalized reciprocity is when members “may give help to one person without receiving anything in return; instead the return may be in the way the actor who received help in turn give help” (pg 127). In the SWIB community, members inform other members of future events, job opportunities, and how to succeed. We have panel discussions led by experienced members to help inexperienced members prepare for interviews and jobs. In addition, as a result of our extensive network to a variety of companies, we update one another regarding job openings and information sessions. This sharing of information is often done with little to no return (generalized reciprocity). Much of the community is based on this, simply sharing the experience and information we know to help others be successful, and often get nothing in return.

There are two different types of ties within this social network. The majority of ties within the SWIB community, most of the members all know each other from attending meetings together and attending the same events. They are constantly in contact with one another, updating each other on upcoming events and opportunities. The members of SWIB are all very similar; they all attend Cornell, have similar interests, take similar classes, have similar majors and have similar aspirations. However, there are also weak ties, many of the members are not in frequent contact with the other members. They are often off doing their own thing, not interacting with fellow SWIB members. Because of these weak ties, our club members are able to connect to unique resources and have more job opportunities. As a result of these two types of ties both operating within our community, we are able to foster a variety of resources while still maintaining close relationships with our fellow members.

The SWIB community utilizes both FtF and CMC interactions to maximize group membership and strengthen our ties with one another. As Etzioni and Etzioni’s study suggests, “ communities that combine both f2f and CMC systems would be able to bond better and share values more efficiently than communities that rely upon only one or th other mode of communication” (pg 131). The SWIB community keeps its members informed of events and opportunities through a variety of methods: e-mail (our listserve swib-l@cornell.edu), a Facebook Group , and our SWIB Website. The members are able to stay up to date with future events by simply checking their e-mail or the website. The Facebook Group also keeps members informed because it is updated every few weeks and sends out messages before every major event to remind members. By having FtF meetings/events in addition to the on-line communication, it really helps to establish a sense of community among the members. When members cannot attend a meeting/event they are still updated on what went on and are able to form a dependency on one another, and CMC helps to facilitate this relationship. The SWIB community started out in 2000 and has been able to grow into the club that it is as a result of both online (Facebook, listserve, Website) and offline (weekly meetings and events) synergies.