Hawaiʻi's Technology Community
The Social Web and Small World Networks (and Kevin Bacon)
It pleases me to think that the foundations for the social web can be seen in the mathematical phenomenon of small world networks.
You could say that small world networks describe how participants in a social net are linked, and often these links are shorter and closer than initially expected. In a very, very naive way, social networks are a lot like amalgamations of expert systems and trust-based recommendation systems. But at the heart of it all are the relations between the participants, the unlikely and surprising connections, that give rise to something that is much greater than the simple sum of its parts. The social web gives us a new way to connect, to leverage the collective wisdom of the group, and to make decisions based on trust metrics. No man is an island, indeed.
And, as an example of small world networks, just try the University of Virginia's Oracle of Bacon. Perhaps Hollywood's hardest working actor, Kevin Bacon is linked to a very surprising amount of other actors and actresses.
What are your thoughts on the dynamics of the social web?
You could say that small world networks describe how participants in a social net are linked, and often these links are shorter and closer than initially expected. In a very, very naive way, social networks are a lot like amalgamations of expert systems and trust-based recommendation systems. But at the heart of it all are the relations between the participants, the unlikely and surprising connections, that give rise to something that is much greater than the simple sum of its parts. The social web gives us a new way to connect, to leverage the collective wisdom of the group, and to make decisions based on trust metrics. No man is an island, indeed.
And, as an example of small world networks, just try the University of Virginia's Oracle of Bacon. Perhaps Hollywood's hardest working actor, Kevin Bacon is linked to a very surprising amount of other actors and actresses.
What are your thoughts on the dynamics of the social web?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Leuck on
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This is the kind of app you only have time to write in college, but it is fun :-) After a few attempts to find an actor he isn't connected to I gave up.
I liked your comment in the 1% Rule of Social Networks thread comparing social networks to parties. Amusingly, I think high school social dynamics are also very similar. The clumping (cliques), super-networkers, lurkers, etc. can be observed everywhere from dances to the cafeteria. Social networks allow us all to act like we are still in high school :-) I recently read a
Fast Company article on a plane flight talking about the theories of
Duncan Watts and how he is challenging Gladwell's accepted super-networker model described in The Tipping Point. I don't know if I agree with him, but its definitely worth a read. I'm not a mathematician, but Duncan's theories run contrary to everything I have observed with social networks in the real world.
Duncan Watts believes super-networkers aren't that important. -
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Permalink Reply by Brooke Fujita on
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Daniel Leuck said:
LOL, yeah, I only tossed in mention of this mostly for entertainment value. But is still is a very interesting example of a hub nodes.And, as an example of small world networks, just try the University of Virginia's Oracle of Bacon. Perhaps Hollywood's hardest working actor, Kevin Bacon is linked to a very surprising amount of other actors and actresses.
This is the kind of app you only have time to write in college, but it is fun :-) After a few attempts to find an actor he isn't connected to I gave up.
What, like Ferris Beuller? You know, he's another example of a hub node!What are your thoughts on the dynamics of the social web?
I liked your comment in the 1% Rule of Social Networks thread comparing social networks to parties. Amusingly, I think high school social dynamics are also very similar. The clumping (cliques), super-networkers, lurkers, etc. can be observed everywhere from dances to the cafeteria. Social networks allow us all to act like we are still in high school :-)
I recently read a Fast Company article on a plane flight talking about the theories of Duncan Watts and how he is challenging Gladwell's accepted super-networker model described in The Tipping Point. I don't know if I agree with him, but its definitely worth a read. I'm not a mathematician, but Duncan's theories run contrary to everything I have observed with social networks in the real world.
Excellent reading, Dan. Food for thought, indeed. I would think that in the case for marketing and social networks, simply targetting the Influentials or super networkers cannot be enough. There must be many other factors that describe and predict the behavior of a social group, and perhaps that for an idea to really take root and go viral, there have to be environmental factors, timing if you will, or maybe an already existing predisposition amongst a large portion of the group members, that are at play.
Still, I wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of Hushpuppies, so what does that make me? -
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There is no question that multiple factors and a confluence of events are required to hit the tipping point for many have-to-have products, but my reading of Watts is that super-networkers have almost no significance. I can't point to the problem with his math because I'm simply not on the level, but his assertions are simply contrary to what I've observed. In highly arbitrary social phenomena such as fashion, where utility is of secondary concern, a few super-networkers absolutely control the masses. I can point to examples ranging from popular kids in high school to fashionistas in New York and Paris.
Brooke Fujita: Excellent reading, Dan. Food for thought, indeed. I would think that in the case for marketing and social networks, simply targetting the Influentials or super networkers cannot be enough. There must be many other factors that describe and predict the behavior of a social group, and perhaps that for an idea to really take root and go viral, there have to be environmental factors, timing if you will, or maybe an already existing predisposition amongst a large portion of the group members, that are at play.
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Daniel Leuck said:There is no question that multiple factors and a confluence of events are required to hit the tipping point for many have-to-have products, but my reading of Watts is that super-networkers have almost no significance. I can't point to the problem with his math because I'm simply not on the level, but his assertions are simply contrary to what I've observed. In highly arbitrary social phenomena such as fashion, where utility is of secondary concern, a few super-networkers absolutely control the masses. I can point to examples ranging from popular kids in high school to fashionistas in New York and Paris.
Yeah, I am sure that we all can relate from our own personal experiences and come up at odd with what Watts is claiming. But I am quite sure (just personal conviction, really) that if the group is not ready to hear the message from the Influentials, then nothing will happen. I mean, there were some fashion rags spouting men's skirts for a while a decade ago, and I still don't see any of the hip kids walking around in them. -
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Permalink Reply by John on
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From the Fast Company Article:
"Watts believes a trend's success depends not on the person who starts it, but on how susceptible the society is overall to the trend--not how persuasive the early adopter is, but whether everyone else is easily persuaded. "If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one--and if it isn't, then almost no one can," Watts concludes."
This strikes me as a common sense and a good explanation for most social phenomenon. -
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Yes, but what I am saying is that in many cases trends are created solely by super-networkers / super marketers / cults of personality absent other significant external factors. I'm not sure which external influences cause society to embrace the idea that orange is the new pink, or that geek chic is the new hip look on the Shibuya club scene.
John said:From the Fast Company Article:
"Watts believes a trend's success depends not on the person who starts it, but on how susceptible the society is overall to the trend--not how persuasive the early adopter is, but whether everyone else is easily persuaded. "If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one--and if it isn't, then almost no one can," Watts concludes."
This strikes me as a common sense and a good explanation for most social phenomenon. -
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I noticed some of the Tokyo twenty-somethings bought into Shiseido's out-of-nowhere lipstick for men campaign. Did you see the commercials where the guy puts lipstick on his girlfriend, she giggles and then puts lipstick on him?
At Digital Garage I was asked to work on a campaign for a tobacco company that specifically leveraged super networkers to introduce new brands. They basically identify popular club goers and pay them to talk about how great the brand is. It clearly works. They have been doing it successfully for decades. Luckily DG didn't land the project so I didn't have to resign.
Brooke Fujita said:Daniel Leuck said:There is no question that multiple factors and a confluence of events are required to hit the tipping point for many have-to-have products, but my reading of Watts is that super-networkers have almost no significance. I can't point to the problem with his math because I'm simply not on the level, but his assertions are simply contrary to what I've observed. In highly arbitrary social phenomena such as fashion, where utility is of secondary concern, a few super-networkers absolutely control the masses. I can point to examples ranging from popular kids in high school to fashionistas in New York and Paris.
Yeah, I am sure that we all can relate from our own personal experiences and come up at odd with what Watts is claiming. But I am quite sure (just personal conviction, really) that if the group is not ready to hear the message from the Influentials, then nothing will happen. I mean, there were some fashion rags spouting men's skirts for a while a decade ago, and I still don't see any of the hip kids walking around in them. -
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Permalink Reply by Russel Cheng ラッセル チェン on
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How does Twitter play into all of this? I see cliques, lurkers, super-networkers, etc. on it. I sort of like the you can link to me but I may not link to you aspect of following and followers in Twitter.
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Is that how Twitter works, with directed graphs? That is interesting. I know that LinkedIn allows me to hide my connection list, but I think that that feature is pretty roughl-grained, maybe I-show-you-all,-or-I-show-you-nothing. If a social network has connections (edges) that may be one-way, I wonder how that would affect the interactions in that group?
To be sure, if we take the case of high school cliques, just because I know a cheerleader doesn't automagically make me a part of her inner circle of friends. Heck, that's precisely how it was in high school for me. People only wanted to copy from my homework...
Russel Cheng said:How does Twitter play into all of this? I see cliques, lurkers, super-networkers, etc. on it. I sort of like the you can link to me but I may not link to you aspect of following and followers in Twitter. -
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I wasn't smart enough to be in *your* classes at McK. Darn, free homework.
Brooke Fujita said:Is that how Twitter works, with directed graphs? That is interesting. I know that LinkedIn allows me to hide my connection list, but I think that that feature is pretty roughl-grained, maybe I-show-you-all,-or-I-show-you-nothing. If a social network has connections (edges) that may be one-way, I wonder how that would affect the interactions in that group?
To be sure, if we take the case of high school cliques, just because I know a cheerleader doesn't automagically make me a part of her inner circle of friends. Heck, that's precisely how it was in high school for me. People only wanted to copy from my homework...
Russel Cheng said:How does Twitter play into all of this? I see cliques, lurkers, super-networkers, etc. on it. I sort of like the you can link to me but I may not link to you aspect of following and followers in Twitter. -
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