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Why can two people with different relationships be regarded as "equal" on social networks?
In the world of social networking, we often see different individuals who appear to be very similar in behavior, but very different in real relationships. This phenomenon makes people wonder: Why can two people whose relationships are obviously different be regarded as the same in social networks? This involves the analysis of network similarity, which evaluates individuals from multiple dimensions such as structure and function.
Similarity analysis can help us understand the structure in social networks and how these structures influence behavior, interactions, and the functioning of the overall social network.
Different types of similarity
In network analysis, similarity can be measured based on several different principles, including structural equivalence, automatic equivalence, and rule equivalence. These principles form a hierarchy, indicating that structurally equivalent individuals must also automatically be rule-equivalent, but not vice versa.
In many real social networks, exact equivalence may be rare, so it is necessary to relax the judgment criteria and adopt an approximate equivalence evaluation method.
Structural equivalence
Structural equivalence means that two network nodes are considered structurally equivalent if they share many of the same neighbors. For example, two banks are considered structurally equivalent if they share the same number of customers and their associated networks exhibit similar patterns. In real-life situations, however, exact structural equivalence is not common, so the concept of approximation needs to be taken into account.
Automatic equivalence
Auto-equivalence is more relaxed, which means that two nodes are considered to be automatically equivalent if their swapped positions in a network do not affect the distance between other nodes. Such applicable scenarios can be used in the analysis of organizational structure. For example, if two managers perform similar roles in the organization, even if the items they directly purchase are different, their positions and relationships in the network will have certain degree of equality.
Rule equivalence
Rule equivalence emphasizes the similarity of relative positions. Two actors may share the role of mother in the home, even if their specific connections are different. This situation once again emphasizes the diversity and complexity of interpersonal relationships in social networks.
When we think about the similarity of interpersonal relationships in social networks, we are actually exploring the correlation between various social structures and their surrounding environments.
Methods for measuring similarity
Common methods for measuring structural equivalence include geometric mean to calculate cosine similarity, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Euclidean distance. These metrics help analyze similarities and differences between individuals, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of social networks.
Conclusion
When exploring similarities in social networks, we realize that even different relationships may still be considered equivalent in exchange for gain or loss due to similarities in structure and function. In this context, social networks not only reflect simple connections between individuals, but also reflect more complex social structures and cultural influences. This makes us think, are there really deep commonalities in seemingly different relationships?
