Dear Teachers,
This series of graphs explores social connectedness between counties (or, in Alaska “country equivalents.”) Specifically, they use facebook data to show the “relative probability that someone in one county has a Facebook friendship link to another county” in the U.S. (NYTimes). The darker the color, the greater the likelihood. There is a great range in how geographically distant and diverse the connections are from county to county. What could account for that?
The original link from NYT is interactive and lets you choose any U.S. location. In order to help with this exploration, we’ve set up the two specific locations of our pilot groups: Juneau and Fairbanks. Happily, those two census areas show quite different types of connections with the rest of Alaska and with the rest of the U.S.
More context about the graphs:
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT IN LEADING THIS DISCUSSION....
OPTIONAL:
More about these graphs.....
There are lots of fascinating possible ideas to research and notice with this interactive feature - within Alaska and/or within the complete U.S. You can read the article, poke around on your own and/or use the extra (optional) slides that we’ve added here:
If you want to dig more deeply:
Excerpts from NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-graph-jan-9-2019.html
Did you know that the typical American lives within 18 miles from his or her mother? And the typical college student goes to school within 15 miles of home? Is that what you expected? Our friends are close; they are who we see at home, school, and work. The New York Times article “How Connected Is Your Community to Everywhere Else in America?” lets you see the friendship links between people in your county and the rest of the country. ...What do you wonder about your county’s friends network?
The article draws from a research study by statisticians from Facebook, Harvard, Princeton and New York University. ... Darker colors represent greater connectedness as compared to the white color of minimal connectivity. Notice that the legend does not use equal intervals; it jumps from 1 times as likely (neither more or less) that any two people living in two different counties are connected on Facebook to 3 times, then 10 and 100 times. The more colored in is the map the more broad is the county’s connections. Counties with less color in the map are more isolated.
The statisticians found that social connectivity declines with distance. On average, 55% of all Facebook friendships are with individuals living within 50 miles. Check several counties and examine their “Share of friends who live within …” statistics given below the map. How could this affect people’s happiness, financial well-being and futures? Which counties have the most, and which the least, social connectivity? Do you think social connectivity is increasing or decreasing? Thinking of our own friendship links, how does your social connectivity affect you?
You may want to think critically about these additional questions:
■ True or false? Give support from the map and its statistics for your answers.
— Americans from counties with similar incomes, education levels or voting patterns are more likely to be connected.
— Americans are more likely to be friends with people who they share beliefs than people who live near them.
■ The article discusses how there are several powerful boundaries to social connectedness. For each of these, find an example and explain how the boundary affects the friendship connectivity.
— State lines
— History, such as the Dust Bowl and the Great Migration
— Natural boundaries, such as rivers and mountain ranges
— Destinations, such as military facilities, universities and retirement communities
■ Some say that this country is divided by politics, by urban vs. rural, and by the coasts vs. the heartland. But maybe distance is the major divider with people being friends with those who they live nearby. Running the cursor over the map, find a county whose residents have friends relatively close in distance and another county whose residents have friends who are very dispersed. What do you think caused this difference?
■ Input the county you live in and note the percentages of friendships that are within 50, 100 and 500 miles. How does this compare to the national percentages of 55%, 63% and 70%, respectively? Why do you think your community is more or less connected than the nation as a whole? How do you think this difference affects you and your community?
Routine questions:
Additional questions for these maps:
Fairbanks North Star Borough
City and Borough of Juneau
Social Connectedness in the U.S.
as measured by Facebook friendships
(April 2016)
Alaska is nearly 1/5 the size of the lower 48 states
“County Equivalents”
Map of boroughs and census areas in Alaska.
Green = boroughs
e = = consolidated city-boroughs
= census areas
(unorganized borough)
These are “county equivalents” in Alaska - the colors are NOT connected to the facebook key of friendships.
Explore the interactive map yourself at:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/19/upshot/facebook-county-friendships.html
Unfortunately, you’ll need a NYT subscription :((((