Network Basics

From Networked Advocacy

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” Jane Howard

Alumni associations. Church groups. Anti-war activists. Soccer teams. Students against the genocide in Darfur. We all know and live in networks. They are the informal web of ties that underpin our personal and professional lives. Networks aren't new. But they have new potential to affect social change, in part due to the power of the internet.

The basics: How networks function

What makes a healthy network tick? We know how to build a strong organization. What about a network? Some characteristics to watch for:

• Social Ties: What's the 'glue' holding people together?
• Shared Resources: What kinds of skills, talents, interests and resources must a network have? How does it use them?

• Communications: How do networks talk, share and plan? When?
• Members: Who is part of the network? What does that mean?
• Leaders: Who leads? How and why?
• Common Story / Vision: What do participants need to feel, know and believe to be part of the network?

(Join the discussion on each of these components!)

Joe Trippi discussing building community (networks!) online:

Citations: Jefferson High Map: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 100, No. 1. "Chains of affection: The structure of adolescent romantic and sexual networks," Bearman PS, Moody J, Stovel K.