Network awareness, social context and persuasion

Abstract

This paper brings a sociological perspective to an area dominated by social psychology, that of persuasion. It discusses how networks can be used to describe context for persuasive messages. It has been previously argued that network awareness, having knowledge of how networks affect behavior and perception, combined with knowledge of the networks in some part of society such as an organization or region, is important for innovation and productivity. This paper expands on this by introducing the concept of "social context." While the idea of location in social structure is not new, the difference here is that this paper talks not just about abstract location in social space, but the more concrete realization of it in communication networks based on cell phones, social networking software, IM, email and other new technology is. I argue that the ability to observe and measure these networks can give insight into the user's behavior, attitudes and worldview and provide a context for persuasion to take place. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.