Digital communication and tie formation amongst freshmen students during and after the pandemic
This study examines the network evolution among sociology freshmen students during and after the Covid-19 pandemic as a natural experiment on the impacts of digitalised communication. The first surveyed cohort (N = 42) began their studies under lockdown in October 2020, when all classes were taught...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
10 January 2025
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| In: |
Social networks
Year: 2025, Volume: 81, Pages: 53-66 |
| ISSN: | 0378-8733 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.socnet.2024.12.002 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2024.12.002 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=DOISource&SrcApp=WOS&KeyAID=10.1016%2Fj.socnet.2024.12.002&DestApp=DOI&SrcAppSID=EUW1ED0E15ygSuTHoNNhfx5C7KMQ7&SrcJTitle=SOCIAL+NETWORKS&DestDOIRegistrantName=Elsevier 
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| Author Notes: | Judith Gilsbach, Johannes Stauder |
| Summary: | This study examines the network evolution among sociology freshmen students during and after the Covid-19 pandemic as a natural experiment on the impacts of digitalised communication. The first surveyed cohort (N = 42) began their studies under lockdown in October 2020, when all classes were taught online (lockdown cohort). The second cohort (N = 66) started one year later when the lockdown measures were released partly and most classes were taught in a hybrid mode (hybrid cohort). We use Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models (SAOM) for model estimation; missing relations due to actor non-response are multiply imputed using SAOM-based procedures. The findings show (1) that the network among students of the lockdown cohort developed slower and reached a lower density at the end of the first term, (2) that the probability of triadic closure was significantly lower in the lockdown than in the hybrid cohort and (3) that in both cohorts, students have a stronger tendency to get acquainted if they share classes, but (4) that shared classes were more important for tie formation during lockdown. We conclude that digital communication will mitigate the opportunities to make new acquaintances and friends. |
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| Item Description: | Online verfügbar: 10. Januar 2025 Gesehen am 16.07.2025 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 0378-8733 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.socnet.2024.12.002 |