Network effects

(noun)

When the value of a product or service is dependent on the number of people using it.

Related Terms

Examples of Network effects in the following topics:

  • Economies of Scale and Network Externalities

    • Economies of scale and network externalities are two types of barrier to entry.
    • Network externalities (also called network effects) occur when the value of a good or service increases as a result of many people using it.
    • Because of network effects, certain goods or services that are adopted widely will appear to be much more attractive to new customers than competing goods or services.
    • This is evident in online social networks.
    • Social networks with the largest memberships are more attractive to new users, because new users know that their friends or colleagues are more likely to be on these networks.

  • Sampling ties

    • Full network data is necessary to properly define and measure many of the structural concepts of network analysis (e.g. between-ness).
    • Business contact networks, community elites, deviant sub-cultures, avid stamp collectors, kinship networks, and many other structures can be pretty effectively located and described by snowball methods.
    • While such an approach will miss most of the community (those who are "isolated" from the elite network), the approach is very likely to capture the elite network quite effectively.
    • This kind of approach can be quite effective for collecting a form of relational data from very large populations, and can be combined with attribute-based approaches.
    • Such data are, in fact, micro-network data sets -- samplings of local areas of larger networks.

  • Structural holes

    • The effective size of ego's network is three.
    • So, the effective size of the network is its actual size (3), reduced by its redundancy (2), to yield an efficient size of 1.
    • Efficiency (Efficie) norms the effective size of ego's network by its actual size.
    • The effective size of ego's network may tell us something about ego's total impact; efficiency tells us how much impact ego is getting for each unit invested in using ties.
    • An actor can be effective without being efficient; and and actor can be efficient without being effective.

  • Postponing Job Hunting

    • Contacting as many people as possible is a highly effective way to find a job.
    • It is estimated that 50% or higher of all jobs are found through networking.
    • Contacting as many people as possible is a highly effective way to find a job.
    • It is estimated that 50% or higher of all jobs are found through networking.
    • Contacting as many people as possible is a highly effective way to find a job.

  • The probability of a dyadic tie: Leinhardt's P1

    • It is also a function of the overall density of the network (theta).
    • It is also a function of the global tendency in the whole network toward reciprocity (rho).
    • Theta = -1.6882 refers to the effect of the global density of the network on the probability of reciprocated or asymmetric ties between pairs of actors.
    • Rho = 3.5151 refers to the effect of the overall amount of reciprocity in the global network on the probability of a reciprocated tie between any pair of actors.
    • Beta ("attractiveness") refers to the effect of each actor's in-degree on the probability that they will have a reciprocated or asymmetric relation with other actors.

  • Components of Connectivism

    • At its core, George Siemens' theory of connectivism is the combined effect of three different components: chaos theory, importance of networks, and the interplay of complexity and self-organization.
    • We must create networks which, simply defined, are connections between entities.
    • By using these networks - of people, of technology, of social structures, of systems, of power grids, etc. - learning communities can share their ideas with others, thereby "cross-pollinating" the learning environment (Siemens, 2005, para. 21)
    • The resulting structure can in many cases be modeled as a network, with stabilized interactions functioning as links connecting the agents" (p. 1).

  • Isolation and Development

    • A related phenomenon, emotional isolation may occur when individuals are emotionally isolated, even though they may have well-functioning social networks.
    • Social isolation can be problematic at any age, although it has different effects for different age groups (that is, social isolation for children may have different effects than social isolation for adults, although both age groups may experience it).
    • Socially isolated individuals lack these beneficial influences, as well as lacking a social support network that can provide help and comfort in times of stress and distress.
    • Social relationships can also connect people with diffuse social networks that facilitate access to a wide range of resources supportive of health, such as medical referral networks, access to others dealing with similar problems, or opportunities to acquire needed resources via jobs, shopping, or financial institutions.
    • These effects are different from receiving direct support from a friend; instead, they are based on the ties that close social ties provide to more distant connections.

  • Connecting with Other Educators

    • Social media is an effective way for teachers and educators to connect with each other to share resources, ideas, and look for jobs.
    • Social media is an effective way for teachers and educators to connect with each other, share resources and ideas, and look for jobs.
    • Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, the Teacher Job Network, are all online networks that can connect teachers with each other.
    • In general, social networking sites are virtual communities for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together.
    • By their very nature, social networking sites are relationship-centered and promote shared experiences.

  • Types of Internet Advertising

    • Types of Internet advertising include banner, semantic, affiliate, social networking, and mobile.
    • Social network advertising is a form of online advertising found on social networking sites such as Facebook.
    • Advertising on social media networks can take the form of direct display ads purchased on social networks, self-serve advertising through internal ad networks, and ad serving on social network applications through special social network application advertising networks.
    • This presents a cost-effective way for brands to deliver targeted advertisements across mobile platforms on a daily basis.
    • Although advertisements appear on a small mobile interface, mobile advertisers have the ability to deliver personalized, and thus effective, messaging.

  • Types of Networks

    • A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage.
    • A campus area network (CAN) is a computer network made up of an interconnection of LANs within a limited geographical area.
    • A backbone network is part of a computer network infrastructure that interconnects various pieces of network, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks.
    • Network performance management, including network congestion, are critical parameters taken into account when designing a network backbone.
    • Backbone networks are similar to enterprise private networks.