Identity Thieves’ Reliance on Triadic Closure
In the contexts of the real and social media worlds, the term “friend” often does not refer to the same type of relationship. One’s friends in the real world usually consist exclusively of people whom the individual knows fairly well and has face-to-face contact with on a somewhat regular basis. While one’s friends on social […]
Are you smarter than a New York Times Reader?
This puzzle from the New York Times challenges readers to enter a number between 0 to 100 such that the number is 2/3 of the number chosen most commonly by the other participants of the challenge. After 59,835 contestants, the winning number was 19. This challenge was a useful example for illustrating a number of game theory topics. A common […]
Another theorem about signed graphs
In class, we discussed both signed graphs and the concept of a balanced signed graph in the context of social networks. We then proved a theorem that stated that the nodes of any balanced, complete, signed graph can be partitioned into two sets X,Y such that all edges between nodes of set X are positive, […]
City of Sanctuary
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/06/city-of-sanctuary-bristol-rallies-to-help-refugees-as-aid-network-swells The above article from The Guardian, “City of Sanctuary”, provides an example of how the existence of networks and the community that they provide can significantly improve circumstances for individuals across nations. The City of Sanctuary network is an organization in the UK with the goal of welcoming refugees currently fleeing persecution and conflict […]
Making Friends in New Places (and Stressful Situations)
Something every college student has experienced—the mad rush to meet-and-greet your hallmates, classmates, professors, etc., within the first few weeks of school. Especially for people who haven’t seen or talked to each other all summer, there is a lot of effort that is put into catching up and renewing bonds. The New York Times’ Education […]
Algorithmically Determining the Shortest Path Between 2 Nodes
The ability for edges to contain values is an extremely important aspect of graph theory. For example, in a network representing a subway system, a weighted edge connecting two nodes could mean the distance between the stations those nodes represent. A weighted edge between two nodes in a social network could mean the strength of the […]
Online communities and Social Networks
Today, the entire start-up community seems to be crazy about building communities in the Web. Social networks and online communities are omnipresent in today’s digital age, yet people including myself sometimes get confused between the two concepts. This article that I came across earlier looked into their mechanisms and clarified the subtle difference between the […]
The Future of News
Social networks like Facebook and Twitter operate in ways that allow users to keep track of what everyone else on their network posts and shares, regardless of the strength of their ties. Since it is easier to maintain many weak ties rather than many strong ties, and friending or following is largely based on positive […]
Facebook and Political Polarization
The existence and expanding use of online social media networks not only helps create a growing, globally interconnected social networking system online, but also helps distribute and share information between people. This article focuses specifically on one social network, Facebook, and on shared information relating generally to political ideology in order to determine whether or […]
NBA Champions from 1984 to 2015
The NBA Finals have been held each year since 1947. This year marks the sixty-ninth time the, best-of-seven, final round has been contested. One player in particular has a connection to nearly half of the championship teams. His name: Shaquille O’Neal. And while his teams’ have only won the title four times (2000,2001,2002, and 2006) […]
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