Weak Ties

Wikipedia: "Weak tie is a term suggested by Mark Granovetter in 'The strength of weak ties' (American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 78, No. 6., May 1973) as the ties in a social network that are not strong. Strong ties are those such as kin relations and close personal friends, while weak ties are loose acquaintances such as those connections made at a party."

Valids Krebs [via Twitter]: "That is NOT correct definition of weak tie -- college roommate who you rarely talk to is a weak tie -- there is trust in tie!"

Smart Mobs

Wikipedia: "The smart mob is a concept introduced by Howard Rheingold in his book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. According to Rheingold, smart mobs are an indication of the evolving communication technologies that will empower the people...

"A smart mob is a group that, contrary to the usual connotations of a mob, behaves intelligently or efficiently because of its exponentially increasing network links. This network enables people to connect to information and others, allowing a form of social coordination. Parallels are made to, for instance, slime moulds."

Valids Krebs [via Twitter]: "Two metrics necessary to determine 'small world': clustering coeff & avg path length, some use third metric of 'shortcuts'."

Social Capital

Wikipedia: "Social capital is defined by international intangible standards as the value that is created through the application of social networks during non-organizational time. From this stance, social capital when added to human capital summate to define economic capital."

Valids Krebs [via Twitter]: "strongest soc cap developed during project work -- thru work networks, not socializing -- thru tuff times, not good times.