Predicting international Facebook ties through cultural homophily and other factors

This study describes the structure of the international Facebook friendship network and its determinants using various predictors, including physical proximity, cultural homophily, and communication. Network analysis resulted in one group of nations, with countries that bridge geographic and linguis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New media & society 2017-02, Vol.19 (2), p.217-239
Main Authors: Barnett, George A, Benefield, Grace A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:This study describes the structure of the international Facebook friendship network and its determinants using various predictors, including physical proximity, cultural homophily, and communication. Network analysis resulted in one group of nations, with countries that bridge geographic and linguistic clusters (France, Spain, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates) being the most central. Countries with international Facebook friendship ties tended to share borders, language, civilization, and migration. Physical distance, shared hyperlinks, use of common websites, telephone traffic, cultural similarity, and international student exchange were either weakly or not significantly related to international Facebook friendships.
ISSN:1461-4448
1461-7315
DOI:10.1177/1461444815604421