Sunbelt XXXI International Network for Social Network ... - INSNA

Networked Play For Health: Promoting Physical Activity Through A Social GameWang, Hua; Gotsis, Marientina; Jordan‐Marsh, Maryalice ; Spruijt‐Metz, Donna; Valente, ThomasSocial Networks and HealthPersonal Networks, Physical Activity, Health Promotion, Interview, Game, Wellness PartnersFRI.PM1This study explored the phenomenon of networked play in the context of a novel health intervention called Wellness Partners. Primary participants enrolledtheir family and friends as partners to pilot test the program by sharing updates about their physical activities, sending direct messages, viewing other groupmembers’ activities, and interacting with various digital gaming elements on the purposefully designed social network site. In‐depth interviews wereconducted with 20 participants. They were selected based on individual attributes such as their role in the study as an ego or alter, gender, age, education,ethnicity, marital status, geographic location as well as the structure of their personal networks such as a dyad, triad, or a group of larger size. Atlas ti was usedfor a thematic and content analysis of interview transcripts. The study found that close ties were chosen as wellness partners for the comfort of exchangingprivate information, shared health interests or concerns, active lifestyle and positive personality, and prior co‐exercise practices. The intervention website notonly facilitated network members to track each other’s individual physical activities, but also provided a space for health information sharing, friendlycompetition, emotional support, and social networking through playful activities. Despite the technical difficulty and design limitations of the intervention,participants enjoyed the virtual rewards and felt especially motivated when engaged in meaningful social interactions with their partners. Some even reportedattitudinal and behavioral change after 10 weeks.Networked Science: Distance And Discipline In A Collaborative Research NetworkDimitrova, Dima; Mok, Diana ; Gruzd, Anatoliy ; Hyatt, Zack ; Mo, Guang Ying ; Wellman, BarryAcademic and Scientific NetworksCollaboration, Online Survey, scholarly networksTHURS.AM1This paper explores the role of distance and disciplinary background in research collaboration. The broad concern of the paper is the transition of scientificresearch from the informal collaboration in “invisible colleges” to more formal collaborative networks that are multi‐disciplinary, cross‐sectoral, county‐wide oreven global. A lot of the existing literature is normative: it deals with how such scientific collaboration should function rather than how it actually functions.Where empirical research does exist, it points to the existence of social, cultural, and technological constraints that maintain disciplinary and geographicboundaries While collaborative research today is almost by default distant and multi‐disciplinary, both distance and working across disciplines reinforce thechallenges in coordinating and communicating. This study clarifies to what extent research collaboration crosses disciplinary and geographic boundaries, howdiscipline and distance interact, what collaborative relations cross these boundaries more easily, and which boundary – distance or discipline ‐ is stronger. Theanalysis uses qualitative and quantitative data from the study of a country‐wide research network in Canada. Preliminary qualitative analysis shows thatmultidisciplinary teams do not necessarily mean multidisciplinary collaboration; while researchers easily exchanges information from a distance they strivecreate opportunities to meet in person. In survey data, we expect to find stronger disciplinary boundaries in more demanding professional relationships andacross the social / computer sciences divide. Further, we expect that distance reinforces such disciplinary boundaries. In short, we expect that distance anddiscipline are still relevant in large collaborative research networks and cyberscience is not yet here.