Simply put, the composition of the network has two elements.
One is the node; The other is the connection between nodes.
Nodes generally refer to actors, such as individuals, groups, organizations or cities or countries.
Connections reflect some kind of interaction between nodes. The most common is interpersonal relationship, which constitutes a friend network, a discussion network, a New Year's greeting network and so on.
In a broader sense, network research can be regarded as all interactive forms of research, from information exchange, emotional support, trade, credit and capital flow, to the spread of diseases, innovation and cultural elements, all of which can be the objects of network analysis.
What is a network perspective?
First of all, network science emphasizes the importance of connection.
In the view of network science, the relationship between nodes has greater influence on nodes than their own characteristics or attributes. This way of thinking has set off a cognitive revolution in many disciplines.
Such as marketing. Traditional marketing often pays attention to the individual characteristics of potential consumers. When a new mobile phone is launched, we will study how old people are, how educated they are, how much they earn, and what occupation is easier to buy? Then, make user portraits for consumers, choose advertising channels and formulate marketing strategies.
But in fact, the study found that 99% of our decisions or behaviors are made under the influence of others, and the decisions of personal tastes and preferences are very limited. Although society tells us to be ourselves and not to be influenced by others, in fact, we are always influenced by what our friends like and what brands they choose, and they constitute our reference group.
For example, there is an adolescent boy whose parents want him to study medicine. The teacher thinks he is computer material, but he wants to play rock and roll. There is a simple reason. The girl in his favorite class next door likes rock music best.
Besides, the well-known story of Meng Mu's three movements is ostensibly to change the environment in which the child grew up, or more accurately, to change his peer network. If your child is studying, do you know who his best friend is? This is a big problem that parents can't ignore.
Second, the network perspective not only emphasizes the importance of connection, but also emphasizes the influence of the whole network on nodes.
Let me ask you a question. Do you know which company in the world makes the most money?
This is Facebook. Facebook's market value is as high as 500 billion dollars, but strangely, Facebook has no assets. It has neither Apple's production line nor Amazon's logistics, nor many invention patents of Goolge. So why is Facebook so valuable? Why does the capital market give Facebook such a high evaluation?
This is because Facebook's most valuable assets are not production lines, construction or invention patents, but its social network of 2 billion users around the world. With the help of this network, Facebook can gain an accurate insight into the interaction and influence between people and become the most accurate and efficient advertising platform in the world.
Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, said in an interview with Businessweek that Coca-Cola can pay the highest price and ask the most creative advertisers in the world to design an advertisement to tell the world how delicious Coca-Cola is. But for each of us, if our good friends take a sip of coke and sigh how refreshing it is, this is the most effective advertisement for Coca-Cola. The genius of Facebook is that it has established a network, and everyone wants to be a node on this network and connect with each other.
Third, the overall structural characteristics of a network will not only have an impact on each node, but also be crucial to the survival and competitiveness of the whole network.
We used to think that in doing business, the competition was the intelligence of operators and high-quality products or services. In fact, the success of many enterprises also depends on social networks, such as the traditional network of fellow villagers.
You may have noticed that people who run copy shops generally speak similar accents. Yes, they all come from the same place: Xinhua County, Hunan Province. It is said that more than 200,000 copy shops have opened all over the country. No matter whether you are in Beijing or Shanghai, or in Northeast China or Lhasa, as long as you walk into any copy shop on the street, there is a more than 75% chance of meeting new people.
Then, why can newcomers firmly occupy this market and outsiders can't get in if they want to? This is because Xinhua people have a unique trick, that is, to establish a network for international trade and maintenance and renovation of second-hand photocopiers. The knowledge, equipment and capital provided by this network can help them reduce costs and increase profits. Before Xinhua opened the store, the cost of a copier was 10 million yuan, and the cost per copy was very high. After the newcomer came in, he actually reduced the price of copying to only 10 cent. After this road came out, Xinhua people began to open copy shops all over the country with relatives, neighbors and friends.
In fact, this phenomenon of fellow villagers is not a special case. The secret of their success is to borrow a famous saying of American sociologist Walter Powell-it is neither a market nor a manufacturer, but a network.