Kicking an Old Habit: Conditions for the Succession of a Network Good
http://www.springerlink.com/content/ukk53230107lg783/ We have discussed the establishment of network goods by surpassing a certain unstable equilibria in order to reach a stable equilibrium fraction of the population consuming the good. Once this equilibrium has been established, however, it is unclear how another network good that serves nearly the same purpose could usurp and succeed an existing […]
The Arab Spring And Cascading Effect
Social unrests and revolutions have cascaded across the major urban centers of North Africa and the Middle East in 2011. Social media spread both discontent and inspiring stories of success from Tunisia across North Africa and into the Middle East. The protests in Egypt and Tunisia have drawn the largest crowds in 50 years, and […]
NBA Lockout
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/sports/basketball/imminent-deal-in-nba-no-but-sides-keep-negotiating.html?_r=1&ref=sports The NBA is currently in a lockout and more and more of the season is disappearing. The players and the owners cannot seem to get anything accomplished and some even think that the situation is getting worse. Some believe that the two sides have taken a few steps back from where they were not […]
Three Cups of Cascades
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhAb37yZ0o0 When CBS News broadcasted the above 60 Minutes segment on April 17, 2011 alleging inaccuracies in Greg Mortenson’s bestseller Three Cups of Tea, thousands of Americans who donated to Central Asia Institute (“CAI”), the charity co-founded by Mortenson to build schools for children (many of them girls) in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, […]
The Internet and the Spread of False Information
The Internet has increased information cascades. It is so easy nowadays to look up information on Wikipedia for example. Nearly everyone takes Wikipedia at face value and rarely check the sources or even look to see if the information was cited. In theory the Internet should make information cascades less prevalent since it is easy […]
Penetrating Deep Web Networks
There is much buried in the depths of scripted or dynamically generated sites, password-protected domains, and unlinked content that traditional web search simply cannot access.
Riots: Information Cascading Through Social Media
In early August, looting and arson by youths spread across London. As with many riots, this was triggered by the death of someone whom some believed authorities unfairly targeted. In Britain, Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, was shot dead by police attempting to arrest him. The apparent circumstances of his death angered some […]
Investors leaving one after another, countries follow
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-07/news/30369665_1_euro-zone-stock-markets-wary-investors Due to bad lending habits among other factors, Greece and the rest of the Euro-region states went into economic turmoil. Near the end of 2009, Greek government faced the highest deficit and debt among all the states in the EU, leading to high borrowing costs, causing economic crises. At that time, there was a […]
Negative Effects of Information Cascades
In the past few years we have seen the growing influence of the internet in our daily lives. From smart phones to the immense popularity of services like YouTube and Netflix, the networks we have at our disposal give consumers immense utility. The popularity of websites that offer reviews of services and products has also […]
Is Google Plus Doomed?
It seems that Google’s latest attempt at a social network – Google Plus – may soon find itself going the way of Google Wave. Seemingly, there is nothing wrong with the product. It has a unique and intuitive functionality, merges seamlessly into the millions of existing Google accounts, and has one the world’s most sophisticated […]
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