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Social Networks and Business

https://hbr.org/2011/09/tapping-the-power-of-social-networks

Social networks are generally known for implying significant degrees of stature/status inequalities among individuals. Having more friends on Facebook, followers on Instagram  or retweets  on Twitter tend to indicate who is more popular, well liked or influential in certain circles. Nowadays businesses have also noted that analyzing these social networks to indicate who has the most connections (or greatest degree) in comparison to other nodes allows organizations to know which specific customers to approach/proposition in order to have the most wide-ranging influence. The article above reveals this trend using the example of pharmaceutical companies. In general, research has shown that the effectiveness of a new drug is less important to individual doctors than the knowledge of who in their social/professional circles endorses it. To the extent of “three degrees of seperation”  a single doctor adopting the use of the drug Januvia persuaded other doctors in the same sub-network to  begin using it.

As we spoke of in class, the degree of a specific node has a significant amount of influence in several network-based relationships. From betweeness (lying between many pairs of nodes) to network exchange experiments to embeddedness/dispersion(having high numbers of mutual friends/groups), being connected to a large number of other nodes drastically increases sway and authority in groups. This degree of power is definitely noteworthy enough that businesses and salespeople would want to capitalize; after all, if you are starting a corporation getting its information retweeted by Bill Gates would clearly be more advantageous than by the manager of your local Whole Foods.

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