Unit 3 Activity 1 – Network Map

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto : https://www.pexels.com/photo/spider-web-on-trunk-3416648/.

For my network map, I exported my LinkedIn connections and categorized them based on their respective sectors. From there, I uploaded my dataset to Flourish to try a few visualizations. After some tinkering and testing in my WP blog, my map behaved best when represented by a treemap and produced the most readable results for the drill-down animations. For anyone reading this blog, please feel free to click on the major blocks to see the more detailed results in each category and use the arrow button to navigate back up.

When I consider myself a node in this data set, most of my connections are work-related (as expected as LinkedIn is primarily a professional social network). I was surprised by the number of Niagara Health connections relative to McMaster University, however, many of the physicians and surgeons I’ve collaborated with belong to both organizations and identify Niagara Health as their primary employer.

Interestingly, I can trace the growth of my network connections based on the progressive path of my career, starting in construction many years ago, then into technology and eventually into academia and healthcare, with side projects in community and finance. This map functions as both a visualization of my professional connections and an insight into my career progression over the last two decades.

As I was categorizing each of my contacts I got a bit nostalgic recalling the projects and challenges I had the pleasure to work through with many talented individuals. I’m hopeful that my time in the MALAT program and the next phase of my career will continue to connect me with interesting and unique individuals. In just the first few weeks of the program, it’s been an exciting experience meeting my classmates, a few faculty and some of the upper years.