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Supple networks: Preferential attachment by diversity in nascent social graphs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2014

JAMESON K. M. WATTS Open the ORCID record for JAMESON K. M. WATTS [Opens in a new window]  and
KENNETH W. KOPUT
JAMESON K. M. WATTS
Affiliation:
Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA (email: jamesonw@email.arizona.edu)
KENNETH W. KOPUT
Affiliation:
Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA (email: jamesonw@email.arizona.edu)
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Abstract

A preference for diversity has been identified as an important predictor of tie formation in certain networks, both social and organizational, that also exhibit a high degree of suppleness–the ability to retain their general form and character under stress (Durkheim, 1893/1997. The division of labor in society; Powell et al., 1996. Administrative Science Quarterly 116–145; Powell et al., 2005. American Journal of Sociology, 110(4), 1132–1205; Koput & Gutek, 2010. Gender stratification in the IT industry: Sex, status and social capital. Edward Elgar Publishing). Extant models of preferential attachment, based on popularity, similarity, and cohesion, meanwhile, produce exceedingly brittle networks (Albert et al., 2000. Nature, 406(6794), 378–382; Callaway et al., 2000. Physical Review Letters, 85(25), 5468–5471; Holme et al., 2002. Physical Review E, 65(2), 026107; Shore et al., 2013 Social Networks, 35(1), 116–123). A model of preferential attachment based on diversity is introduced and simulated, demonstrating that a preference for diversity can create a structure characterized by suppleness. This occurs because a preference for diversity promotes overlapping and redundant weak ties during the early stages of network formation.

Keywords

social networkscomplex networksdiversityresiliencepreferential attachment
Type
Research Article
Information
Network Science , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , December 2014 , pp. 303 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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