Open online seminar on Innovating Ego-Network Research with Interactive Visual Tools Presenters: @nuriatargarona.bsky.social, Louise Ryan & @alexciordia.bsky.social Read the article: doi.org/10.1177/1360... When: 20 March Organisers: EMCRs of SN & BSA-SNAG Registration: ethz.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Interested in the social causes and consequences of interpersonal relationships and acquaintances? Submit to "Networks of Weak Ties and Social Cohesion" session at EUSN2026, co-organized with @mbojan.bsky.social and @pschuler.bsky.social Apply by 1 March liu.se/en/event/eus...

Are you a social network researcher using mixed methods? We invite you to contribute to the "Mixed Methods for Social Network Analysis" session at EUSN2026, co-organised with @franciscaortizruiz.bsky.social & @mirandalubbers.bsky.social Apply by 1 March liu.se/en/event/eus... See you in Sweden!

I will be presenting at an open online seminar hosted by TripleS (Maastricht University) on March 12th (16:00-17:00 CET). Title: Social Categories and Boundary-Making: Exploring the Potential of Interactive Visual Tools to Study Boundary Work in Relationally-Oriented Semi-Structured Interviewing

Interested in people's acquaintances, their determinants and consequences for social cohesion, integration or inequality? Submit to "Networks of Weak Ties and Social Cohesion" session at EUSN2026, co-organized with @mbojan.sciences.social.ap.brid.gy and @pschuler.bsky.social liu.se/en/event/eus...

📣 I am thrilled to announce this Hybrid Open Seminar on November 27th at 3PM co-organised by @coalescelab.bsky.social @mirandalubbers.bsky.social and INMIX - UAB Research Group featuring leading expert in migration studies Prof. Louise Ryan ☘️ @teoriantropolog.bsky.social @uab.cat See U there! ✨

📢Just published! Yunsub Lee (COALESCE Lab) & Xinwei Xu (@socialnetworkslab.bsky.social) show how incorporating more realistic network features dramatically alters Axelrod’s cultural dynamics model, in their new article in Social Networks: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #NetSci #SocialNetworks

Our methodological open-access article (co-authors: Louise Ryan & @alexciordia.bsky.social), presenting new interactive visual tools to inductively explore social categorisation and boundary-making processes within personal networks, is out in Sociological Research Online doi.org/10.1177/1360...

This article might be particularly appealing for people interested in: 🧩 the biographical consequences of activism 🌐 personal network analysis ⚖️ the tension between social cohesion and polarization

Our findings show how political involvement transforms individuals' social environments in complex ways and complicate the view that civil society participation always builds bridges ➡️ In polarized contexts, activism may expand mostly ideologically homogeneous ties but also erode cross-cutting ones.

BUT, interestingly, when asked about the consequences, activists were less troubled (although not unaffected) by these ruptures than non-activists. This is why we call this a "relational toll", a common but acceptable cost of political engagement, likely due to lower aversion to social discomfort.

Why does this happen? We explore this qualitatively. When contrasting activists' and non-activists' accounts of their experiences, three dynamics stood up: 1️⃣ Greater identity exposure 2️⃣ Urge for self-disclosure 3️⃣ Need for ideological alignment

👉 82% of activists (vs 55% for non-activits) reported at least one damaged/broken tie due to political disagreements 👉 After controlling for many dyadic and individual social & political covariates through multi-level regressions, activists were 6-7 times more likely to experience relationship decay

Drawing on 76 personal network interviews and 806 relationships in Catalonia (Spain), a highly polarized context, we found that YES, politicaly-motivated relationship decay is significantly more common among activists 👇

We usually think of political engagement and activism as opportunities for new connections and expanding personal networks. But what about the risks of pre-existing relationships being damaged? Our study asks: are activists more likely to experience politically-motivated relational strain?

🚨🚨📢📢 New open-access article (co-authored w/ @nuriatargarona.bsky.social & @mirandalubbers.bsky.social), just out in American Behavioral Scientist: “The Relational Toll of Political Involvement in Polarized Times: Relationship Decay Within Activists’ Personal Networks” doi.org/10.1177/0002...

New paper in Sociological Methodology with @mbojan.sciences.social.ap.brid.gy, @alexciordia.bsky.social, & @nuriatargarona.bsky.social about the measurement properties of aggregated relational data (responses to "how many people do you know who..?") and NSUM estimates: doi.org/10.1177/0081...