The main SNA attributes are actors, relations, ties and network. Actors are generally people but are not required to be individuals. Since the transfers are a community, the actors are all individuals that transferred to Cornell. This includes not only the people that transferred my year, but anyone that has ever transferred to Cornell. Relations connect actors. In this case, transfers are connected by exchange of information, social support, or advice, rather than money, goods, or services. Haythornthwaite also writes “A pair of actors is said to have a tie when they maintain such a relation.” There are both strong and weak ties in the transfer community. An example of a strong tie is the 2nd floor of the TC. The 2nd floor is the social circle I am apart of and due to our frequent interaction and disclosure; we are still a tight knit group of friends. An example of a weak tie is between myself a 2005 transfer and an acquaintance of mine, a 2003 transfer. Although we know one another from being transfers, we are in different social circles. This weak tie has proved beneficial to me because I have contacted this person about their job. As explained, the benefit of weak ties is they “have access to different information.” A network is patterns of ties and interconnections. In the transfer network there are not just one-on-one connections but interconnections. For example, one of the transfers is in a comedy show. Not just one person but approximately 20 transfers go to every show to support him.
The transfer community also exhibits the properties of common ground and reciprocity. According too Etizioni and Etzioni, “community ties are maintained with people we feel are similar to us.” In the transfer center, our common ground is that we all transferred into Cornell from other universities. We understand the process of transferring and the feelings, thought, emotions of leaving behind another school. Some of us also share the experience of living in the Transfer Center. Reciprocity is the idea when I give to you, you give back. A example would be with my transfer acquaintance (the weak tie) I asked for job advice. He gave his advice to me and I gave back by sending a thank you note.
The transfer community is not only a face-to-face community but also online. Etizioni and Etizioni emphasizes that community that are both Ftf and CMC “bond better.” The transfer community Ftf was greatest when we all lived in the TC together. Today, the actors I have strong ties with such as my current roommates that are transfers, I still see Ftf everyday. However CMC has also allowed this community to continue with transfers not is close proximity. For example, a few of my transfer friends graduated. We are still able to remain close due to emails, facebook, iming, etc. In addition, on Facebook there are several Facebook groups that allow all transfers to identify with one another and stay in touch. An example of the strength of this online community was last year when the Transfer Canter was being demolished, all Transfers in any Transfer facebook group received a message and were asked to help in the support against getting rid of the TC. This community is most definitely as example of Gemeinschaft based on our strong interpersonal ties despite distance , shared focus, common purpose and common language and identity as transfers.
Below is the Facebook description of “Save the Transfer Center" and a picture of the TC. It is great to be a part of such a strong network!
Information
Group Info
Name:
Save the Transfer Center
Type:
Common Interest - Beliefs & Causes
Description:
This group is for those who live in the transfer center, lived in the transfer center, or just wish they had lived in the transfer center. As we all know, the TC is being torn down after this year, and transfer students will no longer have a place to call their own.It is important that we start making some noise about this, because I know how important the transfer center is. With this group I think we can start sharing more ideas and keep people involved in the process of trying to save TC.
3 comments:
Hi Katelyn. As a fellow transfer student, I can understand your strong affiliation to the transfer community. In your blog, you explain the significance of the transfer community through a social network perspective. In addition to explaining the actors, ties, and relations that comprise your transfer network community, you explain how you have benefited from the community. Your blog is a great example of a community from a social network perspective, due to its exchange of information, social support, common ground, and reciprocity. Lastly, you include a facebook link to a group that is opposed to the demolition of the transfer center. Though this is definitely an example of a face-to-face community extending into online spaces, your blog may have been more effective if you elaborated on the online-offline synergy of your community.
Hi Katelyn, I am a transfer student too and your blog definitely describes the social networking here at Cornell University really well. The role of reciprocity and common group played a heavy role in establishing this network since you could see people from similar majors working together on projects in the lounge. In this case, the common ground would be the same ILR classes these students took and reciprocity would be how they helped each other in these projects. All of these ties built their social capital and establish a good strong “TC” network. I was part of the Save the TC campaign this worked really well to get a voice out outside the online world. I think this was a great example of the offline-online synergies of the TC social network. All in all this was a great blog and it certainly brought back memories of the good old TC days and how fun it was to hang out with a bunch of fun people.
Hey Katelyn!
I find it kind of weird to comment on your blog as I already know you FtF but couldn’t resist when I saw your topic! I think you did a very good job addressing all the aspects of the transfer community. If you didn’t already know, I am also a Cornell transfer but unfortunately did not live in the TC. Because I did not live there last year, I can be viewed as a weak tie to those actors or transfers who lived in the TC last year. However, I do have common ground with the Cornell transfer community as I am able to understand the emotions and processes of transferring schools. Although I did not live in the TC, I too did not want to see it demolished so I had the same shared focus as my fellow actors. Even when I didn’t live in the TC, I still had strong interpersonal ties and a common language and identity with all of the transfers, especially those in ILR. This supports the fact that the transfer community can be considered Geimenschaft even for those transfers who didn’t live in the TC.
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