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The role of reciprocation in social network formation, with an application to blogging
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Abstract
This paper deals with the role of reciprocation in the formation of individuals' social networks, that is to what extent initiating a relation brings about its reciprocation. Following the activity of a panel of bloggers over more than a year, we seek to establish whether bloggers are mainly involved in social networking or are part of the media industry. We adapt a standard capital investment model to study the effect of reciprocation on the building of social capital. Results of our analysis confirm that activity and reciprocation both play a role in the dynamics of social media.Bloggers, Friendship, LiveJournal, Media, Panel Data, Reciprocation, Reci procity, Social Capital, Social Networks