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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Communication Technology and New Media

Mark A. Rademacher

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Strong-Tie Social Connections Versus Weak-Tie Social Connections, Mark A. Rademacher, Kevin Y. Wang Jan 2016

Strong-Tie Social Connections Versus Weak-Tie Social Connections, Mark A. Rademacher, Kevin Y. Wang

Mark A. Rademacher

Discussions regarding the strength of social ties relate to social capital theory. As Robert Putnam describes it, social capital theory suggests that social networks have value at the micro (individual), meso (community), and macro (societal) levels. An individual's social network is comprised of multiple, multiplex social ties of varying strengths. Strong ties exist among individuals connected within densely knit, homogenous networks such as those involving kin and close friends. Weak ties exist among individuals connected within sparse, heterogeneous networks such as those involving acquaintances.


Viral Marketing, Kevin Y. Wang, Mark A. Rademacher Jan 2016

Viral Marketing, Kevin Y. Wang, Mark A. Rademacher

Mark A. Rademacher

Viral marketing refers to the application of traditional word-of-mouth marketing to the online environment. Originally developed by Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper in 1997, the term is used to describe online techniques designed to generate peer-to-peer conversation and buzz about a company, brand, product, or service. A message that contains something of value or appeal is diffused throughout members of a given social network, and ideally across networks, in an exponential fashion, much like the spread of a virus in medical parlance. The rapid adoption of digital and social media tools by politicians has led to an increased visibility and …


Fashion And The College Transition: Liminality, Play, And The Structuring Power Of The Habitus, Mark Rademacher Dec 2007

Fashion And The College Transition: Liminality, Play, And The Structuring Power Of The Habitus, Mark Rademacher

Mark A. Rademacher

Fashion has long been a signifier of social divisions within the education system as well as society at large. This paper seeks to examine how young people’s use of fashion varies in two distinct social milieus – the high school and college peer cultures. Interviews with 19 college freshmen were conducted to ascertain how fashion contributed to, or hindered, social divisions within each milieu. While informants recognized numerous social divisions marked by fashion choices within the high school milieu, during their initial weeks on campus no social divisions were identifiable. In this new milieu it appears fashion contributed to a …


Capital, Consumption, Communication, And Citizenship: The Social Positioning Of Taste And Civic Culture In The United States, Lewis Friedland, Dhavan Shah, Nam-Jin Lee, Mark Rademacher, Lucy Atkinson, Thomas Hove Dec 2006

Capital, Consumption, Communication, And Citizenship: The Social Positioning Of Taste And Civic Culture In The United States, Lewis Friedland, Dhavan Shah, Nam-Jin Lee, Mark Rademacher, Lucy Atkinson, Thomas Hove

Mark A. Rademacher

In this paper, we analyze the field of cultural consumption in the United States, drawing on the methods of correspondence analysis employed by Bourdieu (1979/1984). Using the 2000 DDB Lifestyle Study, we analyze a cross section of Americans (N=3,122) in terms of their occupational categories, media usage, consumption practices, social behaviors, and indicators of civic and political engagement. In doing so, we find many parallels to the determinants of taste, cultural discrimination, and choice within the field structure observed by Bourdieu in 1960s French society, though there are also some notable differences, consistent with Peterson and Kern's (1996) concept of …