Networks as Filters: Selective Information Transmission in Conversations aboard Skylab

• In Event: 2360 - Group Processes

Abstract

Research has shown that information and social contagions of all sorts will diffuse throughout a network under the right conditions. However, we know relatively little about why specific types of information will diffuse across some ties and not others. In this paper, the authors propose that network relations are not neutral conduits for diffusion. Instead, the character of social relations serves to promote some kinds of information transmission and suppress others, leading to filtering of information by content. This paper builds from an interactionist perspective on relations to theorize dyadic and network mechanisms of content filtering. This framework is applied to develop a new explanation for the organizational conflict during NASA’s Skylab 4 mission. Qualitative analysis and topic modeling of mission transcripts reveal how content was systematically filtered out of conversations between the astronauts and ground control, leading to a critical breakdown in communications. The theoretical and practical implications of content filtering are then discussed.

Authors

• Michael Schultz, Indiana University

• Leslie DeChurch, Northwestern University

• Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University