Google Page Rank: an End to an Era
You’ve probably heard of the underlying drama behind Google Page Rank—competition, link-buying, and even a lawsuit (http://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case337.cfm)—drama that forced Google to make these statistics private this past Spring. What you might not know is that Google Page Rank, originally introduced in 2000, was actually a patented network analysis algorithm that assigned “ranks to nodes in […]
Does more friends on Facebook mean greater social influence?
Does having more friends on Facebook mean you have more “social influence”? Not necessarily. Vyacheslav Polonski, a network scientist at the Oxford Internet Institute, wrote about the implications of the way our network is structured on social influence. His research revolves around the idea that the people with the most influence may not be individuals […]
Do We Really Have 30 Mutual Friends?
Researchers at the University of British Columbia designed a study to show just how vulnerable social networks on sites such as Facebook are to infiltration that can be used for dark purposes. Facebook is known to list the mutual friends of individuals who may have sent a friend request or who show up on […]
An Analysis of Reddit
Reddit is a popular news-sharing, social media website used by many online. The vast majority of the content is driven by its users. An individual user submits an article, or a text, and is either ‘up-voted’ or ‘down-voted’ to rank the quality of the submission by other users. Furthermore, the users of the Reddit […]
Prisoner’s Dilemma in the Doctor’s Office
Since the first use of penicillin in 1942 the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, bacteria strain which cannot be killed by antibiotics, has grown steadily. Even though the United States has attempted to impede the creation of superbugs by only allowing people with a prescription to obtain antibiotics their efforts have not been completely successful. By […]
How The NSA Uses All Those Verizon Phone Records
Analyzing networks is a powerful tool in antiterrorism efforts. The article discusses how the Department of Defense maps terrorist networks in order to decide how to approach dismantling terrorist organizations. The first half of the article introduces basic concepts that we are learning about in class, specifically the concept of triadic closure in networks. Because of […]
Studying the Spread of Memes across Social Networks
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~badityap/papers/composite-ccr12.pdf The spread of information over the Internet is best studied using network models. One of the most common types of information on the Internet is the meme. Memes spread quickly across social networks, but tend to have short lifespans. Researchers at University of California, Virginia Tech, and Carnegie Mellon collaborated to study the spread […]
Developing Networks Through Pet-Centered Tavel
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2016/09/01/pet-sitters-travel-far-and-wide-you-can-too/idECKUohv7DgCVQApsU0TO/story.html This recent article from the Boston Globe talks about a website called Trusted Housesitters where pet owners can find someone to come take care of their pets and their house for free while they are away. Through the website, homeowners and pet sitters form new connections, often across continents, creating a network of people who […]
Contrary to Belief, Apple has the most Powerful Social Network
As described in the attached article, “Does Apple Need a Social Network”, Apple has been working for years to develop a successful social networking feature. In the past, Apple has attempted to succeed in developing a social networking platform by introducing Ping, a music-focused network. Similarly, it has also created Apple Music Connect, which allows artists to […]
Using Networks to Advance Education
I recently started listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast called Revisionist History. I was particularly recommended a series on education where Gladwell touches on a few different aspects of education in America: secondary schooling in poorer areas, college budgets and financial aid, and how rich universities are only getting richer. However, the most relevant topic to […]
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