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Observing the Presidential Debate through the lens of Game Theory

This week’s presidential debate will undoubtedly go down as a failure. There were constant interruptions and a general disregard for standard debate protocol and etiquette. I believe that the new debate format has led to a game where the nash equilibrium and the dominant strategy is to talk over one another for both of the […]

Nash Equilibrium in Relation to American States Bordering One Another During COVID-19

Most Americans, with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska, live in states where the ideological beliefs of their neighboring governors are politically different to their own. While this can be an issue when it comes to topics like immigration or climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on how much more crucial the decisions […]

How social ties contribute to collective actions on social media: A social capital approach

You L, Hon L. How social ties contribute to collective actions on social media: A social capital approach. Public Relations Review. 2019;45(4). doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.04.005 This summer I saw a significant increase in people using their social media platforms as a way to advocate for different problems that are deemed “political.” I saw really close friends, who I […]

Russian twitter accounts used both Pro and Anti-vaccine messaging during the 2016 election.

A new study published this month in the American Journal of Public Health has revealed that twitter accounts operated by the Russian-backed Internet Research Agency (IRA) consistently targeted users with both pro and anti-vaccine messages between 2015 and 2017. According to researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and SUNY Buffalo, the intent was twofold: […]

Pandemic Effects on Social Networks and Echo Chambers

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/us/politics/bowling-alone-robert-putnam.html In the era of COVID-19, our worlds have shrunk into neighborhoods, households, and computer screens. Our social connections have been influenced greatly by our lives in isolation. Before, you would interact with many acquaintances with whom you have weak ties to during your everyday routine. For example, you might interact with a classmate, coworker, […]

Social Networks and Their Effect on Mental Health

“Teen Social Networks Linked to Adult Depression”, posted on Medical Xpress by Karessa Weir of Michigan State University, looks at how teens’ social networks influence their depressive symptoms in adolescence and then again in adulthood. In the study referenced done at Michigan State University, teens were asked to name up to five male friends and […]

COVID-19: Another Large Example of the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Significance of Networks

This article, written by a columnist for the Stanford Daily, examines the vitality of cooperation and compromise in relation to the current pandemic by analyzing the implications of social distancing from a game-theory perspective, namely the Prisoner’s Dilemma.    Cooperation Among State Governments:    As state-mandated lockdowns have been the most common and organized preventative […]

Saving Lives with Matching Algorithms

So far in class we’ve been introduced to basic matching, where preferences over objects are not considered. Needless to say, there are many possible factors to take into consideration as we learn about larger applications of matching algorithms. But something we have been exposed to thus far is eligibility. For example, an algorithm that matches […]

The effect of weak ties on mental health during the pandemic

https://hbr.org/2020/04/why-you-miss-those-casual-friends-so-much The pandemic has drastically changed lives in many ways, one of which is the layout of social networks. Due to the need to quarantine & socially distance, the amount of casual friends/interactions has drastically decreased. While this change is necessary for public health reasons, this article from Harvard Business Review notes that severing casual […]

The Supreme Court and the Prisoners’ Dilemma

Resource: https://www.newsweek.com/2020/10/16/joe-biden-should-promise-pack-supreme-court-save-it-partisan-wars-1534384.html During Tuesday’s interesting first presidential debate, when the question of refilling the now empty Supreme Court seat was presented, Biden maneuvered his way around the answer without a clear final response regarding what he would do if elected, while Trump loudly accused Biden of packing the court if given the opportunity. The author […]

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