Events in Networks

Abstract

Social networks are dynamic structures of expectations that arise and continuously change over the course of social events. The conceptualization of these events with various key notions of sociological theory is discussed: The concepts of behavior, action, and social practices attribute events to individuals, whereas exchange, interaction, communication, transactions, and switchings are located between actors. Action, social practices, interaction, transactions, and communication involve the processing of meaning. I argue that an ideal conceptualization of events in networks should focus on observable processes between actors, and that it has to incorporate meaning, as a key interest of relational sociology. This suggests the concept of communication as a basis for the theory of social networks.