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Dear socnetters,

I want to stir the pot of social network definitions with a question 
about the notion of `social´ in social networks. Can a five-year-old 
German shepherd belong to one´s social network? How about a one-month-
old baby? Compared to the dog, the small baby is clearly much less 
communicative and interactive. Moreover, the dog may well be as 
central to one´s `social´ life (e.g. though connecting the owner with 
other dog owners and dogs) than the network member with human dna...

Markku Lonkila



-- 
Markku Lonkila
Docent, PhD, Researcher
The Finnish Centre for East European Studies  
/ Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki
homepage: http://www.valt.helsinki.fi/staff/lonkila
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

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