Going farther together:the impact of social capital on sustained participation in open source

Sustained participation by contributors in open-source software is critical to the survival of open-source projects and can provide career advancement benefits to individual contributors. However, not all contributors reap the benefits of open-source participation fully, with prior work showing that women are particularly underrepresented and at higher risk of disengagement. While many barriers to participation in open-source have been documented in the literature, relatively little is known about how the social networks that open-source contributors form impact their chances of long-term engagement. In this paper we report on a mixed-methods empirical study of the role of social capital (i.e., the resources people can gain from their social connections) for sustained participation by women and men in open-source GitHub projects. After combining survival analysis on a large, longitudinal data set with insights derived from a user survey, we confirm that while social capital is beneficial for prolonged engagement for both genders, women are at disadvantage in teams lacking diversity in expertise.\u3cbr/\u3

Research on the collaborative evolution process of information in public health emergencies based on complex adaptive system theory and social network analysis: a case study of the COVID-19 pandemic

IntroductionThis review aimed to elucidate the significance of information collaboration in the prevention and control of public health emergencies, and its evolutionary pathway guided by the theory of complex adaptive systems.MethodsThe study employed time-slicing techniques and social network analysis to translate the dynamic evolution of information collaboration into a stage-based static representation. Data were collected from January to April 2020, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Python was used to amass data from diverse sources including government portals, public commentary, social organizations, market updates, and healthcare institutions. Post data collection, the structures, collaboration objectives, and participating entities within each time slice were explored using social network analysis.ResultsThe findings suggest that the law of evolution for information collaboration in public health emergencies primarily starts with small-scale collaboration, grows to full-scale in the middle phase, and then reverts to small-scale in the final phase. The network’s complexity increases initially and then gradually decreases, mirroring changes in collaboration tasks, objectives, and strategies.DiscussionThe dynamic pattern of information collaboration highlighted in this study offers valuable insights for enhancing emergency management capabilities. Recognizing the evolving nature of information collaboration can significantly improve information processing efficiency during public health crises

Segmentation of online behaviour : the website & the social network

Effective marketing communication activities require companies to identify and target the right customer segments. This dissertation explores the potential of social network analysis as a tool for online behaviour segmentation. To this end, the patterns of user interactions in the Facebook page of a Portuguese company, alongside clickstream data from its website, were cluster analysed. The cluster analysis of the interaction patterns yielded four clusters, mainly based on differences in content of the posts on Facebook. These clusters were the Photo-fans, Route-lovers, Promo-people and Video-viewers. The SNA metrics were able to provide concrete insights to characterize these segments. The analysis of clickstream data also yielded four clusters: Prospect, Info Seekers, Curious and Scanners. These consumer segments differ in terms of search detail, which could be attributed to their relative level in the purchase process. A field study on the Facebook page was conducted to link the interaction patterns to the browsing behaviour on the website. For the content of the posts during this field study, the clickstream data of the website did not show substantial differences. This dissertation concludes by noting that SNA tools can be useful and provide insights for marketers that attempt to segment social network audiences. Also, the link between the behaviour of social network audience and website visitors potentially leads to useful and actionable insightsAs actividades de marketing eficazes requerem que as empresas sejam capazes de identificar e comunicar aos públicos alvo adequados. Esta dissertação explora o potencial da análise de redes sociais (SNA) como ferramenta de segmentação do comportamento digital. Para este fim, este estudo analisa em clusters os padrões de interacção entre utilizadores da página de Facebook de uma empresa portuguesa, juntamente com os dados das visitas ao website da empresa. A análise de clusters dos padrões de interacção resultou em quatro clusters baseados nas diferenças de conteúdo das publicações no Facebook. Este clusters foram denominados os “Fãs de fotografia”, “Amantes de rotas”, “Pessoas de promoção” e os “Visualizadores de vídeos”. As métricas de SNA forneceram uma visão concreta que caracterizasse estes segmentos. A análise dos dados das visitas ao website gerou também quatro clusters: “Pretendentes”, “Requerentes de informação”, “Curiosos” e os “Scanners”. Estes quatro segmentos diferem em termos de detalhe de pesquisa, o que pode ser atribuído ao seu nível relativo no processo de compra. Foi realizado um estudo de campo na página de Facebook para ligar os padrões de interacção com o comportamento de navegação no website. No caso do tipo de conteúdo publicado durante o estudo, os dados das visitas no website não variaram substancialmente. Esta dissertação conclui que as ferramentas de SNA podem ser úteis na segmentação de audiências nas redes sociais. Contudo, a ligação entre o comportamento nas redes sociais e o comportamento no website pode levar a insights úteis e práticos

Grouping dynamics of lowland woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) in Amazonian Ecuador

Predator avoidance, resource distribution, and reproductive strategies all play a crucial role in shaping the social structure of animal societies. The fission-fusion dynamics of some animal societies – where core social units are able to break apart or coalesce into parties of variable size and composition – can allow individuals to mediate the cost-benefit tradeoffs of varying party size according to particular environmental or social conditions. Here, I couple ecological, behavioral, and spatial data with molecular genetic methods and analytical techniques (Social Network Analysis) to examine spatiotemporal association patterns among woolly monkeys from four social groups at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS) in Amazonian Ecuador. The woolly monkeys in this populations demonstrated relatively high degrees of fission-fusion dynamics, with groups dividing frequently into subgroups and showing temporally variable cohesion among group members. I found no evidence, however, that subgroups consistently and repeatedly comprised the same sets of individuals. Spatial associations and social interactions were not limited to members of a single social group, and tolerant associations between members of some social groups occurred with relatively high frequency. Genetic analyses revealed no difference in the average relatedness of male and female same-sex dyads, although, adult males tended to have more close relatives both within and between social groups than adult females. Regardless of sex, animals were no more likely to associate with genetic relatives than with to non-relatives. This study also corroborated earlier suggestions that woolly monkeys exhibit some degree of bisexual dispersal, with some males leaving their natal group, in contrast to the pattern that characterizes closely related species of primates. Genetic data also suggest that woolly monkeys live in a dispersed network of kin, where both males and females had first order relatives in neighboring groups. Kinship ties among animals in different groups may play a role in facilitating tolerant mixed group associations, which are common in the study population. As observed in other studies, home range overlap between neighboring groups was extensive, with particular pairs of groups showing higher degrees of overlap than others. Finally, woolly monkeys demonstrated strong reproductive seasonality, with births and conceptions confined to a few months out of the year. My finding that seasonal variation in group cohesion and ranging patterns was not related to fruit availability, but did covary with a behavioral index of mating opportunities, suggest that grouping and ranging dynamics in woolly monkeys may not primarily be driven by competition over food, but rather by competition over mates.Anthropolog

Child social ethology and peer relations: a developmental review of methodology and findings

During the last three decades, developmental research has increasingly emphasized the relevance of peer relations in children’s socialization. However, most studies of child development still focus upon individual differences in social status, tacitly neglecting relational constraints inherent in the ecology of the peer group. In contrast, socioethological approaches have stressed that natural groups provide a variety of distinct social roles that may have a differential impact upon individual growth and development. However, ethological analyses have often been limited to aggressive relations and group dominance structures. Comparable studies of affiliative organization have been hampered by the paucity of models for the study of cohesive social structure, only recently having begun to overcome this obstacle. A potential third dimension of preschool peer group ethology, object use, has been relatively neglected in studies of peer relations. However, recent research suggests that object use is a salient and important component of the social world of the young child. This article reviews methodology and recent findings in the area of peer relations and discusses the developmental implications of this work

The socioecology of Monk Parakeets: Insights into parrot social complexity

In many species, individuals benefit from social associations, but they must balance these benefits with the costs of competition for resources. Understanding how these competing factors generate diversity in social systems is a major goal of behavioral ecology, but one that has been hampered by a lack of basic data quantifying many aspects of social structure and associations. Although parrots are generally assumed to have complex social groups, few studies have quantitatively examined these assumptions about parrot social structure. We critically assessed 4 assumptions about parrot socioecology using data from captive and wild groups of Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We evaluated (1) whether pairs are the fundamental unit of parrot social structure, (2) the patterns and extent of fission–fusion dynamics, (3) patterns of aggression and dominance hierarchy structure, and (4) whether individuals share foraging information. We found evidence that supported pairs as the fundamental unit of social structure, although these close associates were not always heterosexual breeding pairs and were sometimes trios. Fission and fusion of subgroups were common, and the amount of fission–fusion dynamics varied across flock types and by fission–fusion dimension, but the amount of variation among dimensions was consistent across replicate captive social groups. Despite these levels of fission–fusion dynamics, study of aggressive interactions in our 2 captive groups indicated that dominance hierarchies existed. Hierarchies were moderately linear (0.7) but not steep