Relationship Networking: Society and Education

The introduction of social networks has created a paradigm shift in Internet communication. Social networking software places a much stronger emphasis on relationships and the building of relationship capital. These social networking tools enable people to connect with others in ways that were not possible before their invention (see Boyd & Ellison, 2007). This places a focus on relationship networking and how we build and maintain relationships in today's society. Relationship networking is a new term that describes the types of relationships that we develop and the amount of relationship capital that we build. The Relationship Networking Industry Association (RNIA) defines Relationship Capital as a “measure of the perceptions inherent in the internal and external interactions among people, products, and organizations. Its value is tallied throughout and beyond the lifetime of the subject being measured” (Kovitz, 2008). As we develop relationships, our relationship capital grows. Social networks and virtual worlds, which are part of the social networking category, are forcing us to reexamine the ways we interact with people. In today's society, the nuclear family has eroded, community is now based on communities of interest rather than geographic space, and personal interactions are conducted on the Internet instead of face-to-face. As a result, people do not know the basics of relationship building in American culture, which influences identity, democracy, and interactions with others. Eight key factors1 in American society are now influencing the development of social roles for forming successful relationships. First, the Unites States has been one of the world's top economic powers. Currently, the power of the dollar is declining (Bajaj & Austen, 2007), and we are experiencing an erosion of the middle class (Ehrenreich & Draut, 2006). Donald Trump and Robert Kyosaki in the book Why We Want You to Be Rich argue that wealth in America is shrinking. Soon 10 percent of the population will be rich and they will control the remaining 90 percent of the population. In the course of this change, the middle class is also in a decline. As a result, social class and values are altering in the United States Second, markets can be considered conversations. In the Cluetrain Manifesto, Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger (2000) contend that “markets are conversations.” One reason why markets are becoming conversations is because of the Internet. The Internet is enabling people to engage in global conversations that go beyond the control of corporations and the boundaries of countries. An example of how Internet communication is influencing business, is the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries. These jobs are outsourced because people can use telephone and Internet technologies to communicate with companies and customers. As a result, Thomas Friedman (2007) argues that the world has become flat. People can work around the globe without being tied to a geographic location, such as the United States. In addition to losing American jobs to outsourcing, globalization introduces new attitudes and behaviors into American society. Kenneth Gergen (2000) in The Saturated Self argues that individual identity formation is difficult to establish in a world of global media. Gergen is particularly concerned about the role of the Web and the conflicting perspectives presented on the Internet and how these messages will affect young people (Gergen, personal correspondence, March 27, 1998). In the past, identity formation has been based on values established through geographic communities. Gergen is aware that young people are turning to the Internet to model their behavior rather than adults and traditional communities. While, business may be taking advantage of markets of conversation, the values of young people may be hindered by all the conflicting conversations that the technology fosters. Third, because young people known as the Millennials or “Generation Y” have grown up using computer technology, computer-mediated communication is replacing telephone and face-to-face exchanges. Playing video games, text messaging, and YouTube are part of their culture, but these technologies are new and they don't have any ethical guidelines. Millennials are the group that Gergen (2000) has been most concerned about because media influence the ways in which young people learn their values. In the past, the nuclear family, community and face-to-face interactions have helped to shape the values of young people. However, the foundations of the nuclear family, community, and face-to-face relationships have eroded as a way to model behavior. Moreover, Beniger (1987) has argued that media have replaced face-to-face interactions as a socializing force in American society. Using media to model behavior is now part of American culture, but the media messages don't always support ethical values. Therefore, we need to replace mediated patterns for modeling behavior with new ones based on education that involves teaching individuals how to ethically use technology. Moreover, the Millennials, born between 1982 and 2002, are entering the workforce. Employers have noticed that the Millennial generation does not have the same ethics and values as older generations (personal correspondence with human resource managers, 2008). This causes misunderstandings in the workplace between the generations. Currently, Millennials are a misunderstood generation that is described as being nonlinear thinkers, highly adaptive to new technology and well connected, especially online (see Prensky, 2001). Unlike previous generations, this group has a tendency to place less value on money and more on connections, knowledge, and freedom of expression (Degraffenreid, 2006 & 2007). Social Networking programs, such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, are places where Millennials maintain and develop relationships. As a result, relationship development is an important aspect of Millennial culture, which influences American society. But, this group does not understand the basics of successful relationship development because the social patterns for modeling relationship behavior have been disrupted. Or, Millennial habits of social engagement have not been fully formed (Sobel, 2002). This is one reason why this generation is so misunderstood. A course on relationship building can help both the Millennials and older generations better understand each other. Fourth, there is a confluence of technology which is influencing the development of research in the areas of relationship networking, online education (especially in Second Life), social media, and gaming that is currently being developed by academia, corporations, and other insiders (Barnes, 2007; Gronstedt, 2007; Proserpio & Giolia, 2007; Liao, 2008). Additionally, a number of academic articles are just starting to appear on the topic of social networking (Barnes, 2008; Bumgrner, 2007; Byrne, 2007; Donath, 2007; Goldbeck, 2007; Lange, 2007; Humphreys, 2007). Fifth, the government is funding more projects that relate to technology and human interaction. For instance the National Science Foundation has just announced the Virtual Organizations as Sociotechnical Systems (VOSS) program. Additionally, the NSF has funded research at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) on open-source learning systems (NSF Award #0633401, March 2007). Moreover, RIT is exploring how values can be taught in gaming environments. The idea of using Second Life and virtual worlds as an ethical teaching tool is not new. Others are looking at games as a way to teach moral values and ethics (see Dodson, 2004; Rice 2007; Schwartzman, 1997). As a result of increased research in online learning, virtual organizations, and social networking, RIT has set up the Lab for Social Computing to study issues such as relationship networking. Social networking is now a topic of research and study that is growing beyond industry into academia. Sixth, the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001 have caused people in the United States to rethink their humanity, human issues, and spirituality (Schwarz, 2004). This may be contributing to the Millennial's tendency to value connections, knowledge, and freedom of expression. As people have become more spiritually concerned. The widespread phenomenon of the movie “The Secret” as well as the “pay it forward”/ “giver's gain” mentality of relationship networking are possible evidence of a new concern for humanistic concepts (Kovitz, 2008). As American social systems erode, our individual concerns for relationships and humanity grow. Seventh, we do not teach relationship networking in college courses. But, most people get their business through networking. Ivan Misner (2007) “surveyed over 1,400 business people and 88 percent of the respondents said they never had any college course that even covered the topic of networking! [He's] not talking about an entire course on the subject (they are almost nonexistent); [He's] talking about ANY course that simply covered the topic in school” [para. 3]. Then he conducted a second survey of business people from around the world and discovered that 75 percent of over 2,500 people got their business through networking. Obviously, relationship networking is a key factor in building business relationships and successful businesses. Finally, in the social sciences the idea of social capital is a development that evolved as a topic of research over the past 20 years. “Social capital is an attribute of an individual in a social context. One can acquire social capital through purposeful actions and can transform social capital into conventional economic gains. The ability to do so, however, depends on the nature of the social obligations, connections, and networks available to you”(Bourdieu, 1986, p. 242). Relationship networking is the way to build social capital. In business and in academia, relationship networking is a topic that is starting to be codified and structured. Sobel (2002) describes how technology can be used as a substitute for face-to-face meetings to build social capital. Walter Lippmann (1961) stated “we have changed our environment more quickly than we have changed ourselves” (cited in Putnam, Leonardi, & Nanetti, 1993, p. 379). Lippmann should see us now. Blogs have been popular since 2004, social networks have become part of the American media environment, and YouTube is several years old. Today, many people maintain their relationships through computer-mediated communication rather than in face-to-face contexts. These social technologies have already had a large impact on American culture, especially in politics, and they are all based on making relationships (see Sheldon, 2000). Moreover, these technologies have changed faster than people can adapt to them. At the heart of social capital is the need to build relationships on personal, business, and political levels. But even with technology, teaching relationship networking could help to revitalize the building of social capital that is the cornerstone of democracy and democratic principles. These eight factors contribute to the need for teaching relationships in American society. Moreover, the development of the relationship networking industries and the formation of the relationship economy are global paradigm shifts that are currently happening. These shifts are creating a need for education in relationship management. From a business and social perspective people need to be taught how to build and maintain successful relationships that build social capital. From a digital perspective, corporations are forced to deal with issues of whether or not their employees should spend time on sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, and Facebook because the Millennials use these social technologies during working hours. (Hoover, 2007). These types of software programs are central to the development of the relationship networking industries. Moreover, members of the RNIA are creating new types of digital tools to help manage one's relationships online and off. People will need to be trained in the use of these new relationship technologies. Use of relationship networking software also raises ethical issues about privacy and protection for children who engage in inappropriate relationships with adults (Barnes, 2006). This issue has created new laws and software programs to protect children against pedophiles. Moreover, children engage in risky behavior when they lie about their age on social networks and share nude photographs with each other (McQuade, 2008a). Computer technologies have been developed and integrated into American society faster than social systems can develop social norms. Consequently, The Chronicle of Higher Education stated “we must educate young people about cybercrime before they start college” (McQuade, 2007). When people are separated from their words and actions, they can behave badly without any consequences. Misbehavior on the Internet is a problem. Even in spaces like Second Life people do things that are inappropriate. You could write an entire book around the question of what happens when people are separated from their words and actions. The topics of cybercrime and Internet misbehavior keep growing. In oral cultures, people were directly associated with their words. In written culture, the words could be printed and sent across distances. In the past, most words were associated with an author. Occasionally, people used pseudonyms or wrote anonymous pieces. But, on the Internet many people are unknown. We do not have editors to tell us what is fact or fiction. We do not know if someone is being represented as they really are or if they are creating a persona for the net. Questions of trust and authenticity are important concepts that need to be discussed about the Internet and the people we meet online (see Vishwanath, 2004). Separating people from their words creates new forms of behavior and misbehavior. The eight factors combined with issues of misbehavior further create a lack in the development of social norms that foster relationship building. Consequently, we need to teach young people about the appropriate uses of relationship technology and building relationships face-to-face and with people in computer-mediated environments. Instead of new laws to protect children, we need educational programs that teach young people about appropriate and inappropriate relationships on and offline. Technology is being introduced faster than social norms can be established. We need to think about the possible social implications a technology can introduce at the beginning of its introduction and teach people to use it responsibly. Susan B. Barnes, a professor in the Department of Communication at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is the author of Online connections (2001) and Computer-mediated communication: Human-to-human communication across the Internet (2003).