International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)

Early Beginnings

INSNA was founded in 1977 by Barry Wellman, who was based in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, Canada. He headed the association for 12 years until handing over the leadership to Susan Greenbaum and Alvin Wolfe at the University of South Florida. The organization has since played an important role in the development of social network analysis.

In the late 1970s, social network analysis was beginning to overcome a marginalized presence, as it was not yet widely regarded as an established area of study. There was little contact between researchers, especially between those based in the United States and the United Kingdom. The INSNA was the first association to connect analysts, especially those scattered across countries and academic disciplines, and its members have made significant contributions to the development of the field. Beginning in the 1980s, substantive articles and books were published on the topic, and computer programs were designed specifically for the analysis and display of social networks.

A useful source of information about social network analysis, the organization's Website includes resources such as links to many relevant Websites, an events calendar, membership directory and profiles, job postings, membership account management, software, and a list of graduate programs and courses. The INSNA also hosts electronic discussion forums, such as SOCNET (a LISTSERV mailing list), and has its own page on Facebook.

The INSNA organizes an annual meeting, which consists of a business meeting (when new legislation, motions, and resolutions are considered), and the annual International Sunbelt Social Network Conference, which attracts more than 800 delegates. The first conference took place in February 1981 and the second in February 1982, both in Tampa, Florida. The location of the conference alternates every three years between the east and west coasts of North America and Europe. The 2010 conference was held at the University of Trento in Italy.

Three academic publications are sponsored by INSNA. Connections (established in 1977) is a biannual, informal journal and newsletter, regarded as the association's key source of information. It includes articles, book reviews, networking opportunities, and news. Social Networks is the flagship journal of the discipline, published quarterly by Elsevier Science, and serves as a forum for the publication of new research and critique of existing findings. The first issue, published in 1978, was produced and edited by Linton Freeman, a sociology professor at the University of California, Irvine. The INSNA's most recent publication is the online Journal of Social Structure, which encourages the use of electronic media in the analysis and presentation of research. INSNA's conferences and journals have played a key role in fostering research about social networks; since the late 1980s, there has been a proliferation of studies. They have also helped to tie together the field's research and scholars, as previously research was scattered in dozens of journals and fields.

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