Reverse network effects
An interesting dimension of network effects is its downsides. Network effects can drive down three key components of a product’s value due to the increase in scale: connection, content, and clout. Connections refer to the interpersonal connections that users can form on a platform as the user pool increases. Networking and communication platforms such […]
Information Cascade in the Real World: Meme Stocks and Cryptocurrency
Throughout the span of 2021, the stock market has seen a variety of interesting occurrences, a few of the most notable ones being the sudden rise of GameStop and AMC stock, along with cryptocurrency–more specifically Dogecoin. In the article “Following The Herd: Meme Stocks and Bitcoin” by Randall Coleman, it was interesting to read about […]
Information Cascade of Meme Stocks
We learned in class that an information cascade is a phenomenon where individuals base their decisions on earlier or prior people’s decisions rather than on their own knowledge. This essentially creates a chain of herd decisions, which can be particularly dangerous in various scenarios. For instance, information cascade is one of the biggest reasons why […]
The Arts of Ads
It’s become second nature to hold your thumb in the top right corner of your screen and wait for the impossibly small “x” button to appear so whatever poorly animated, childish phone game or luxury apartment for rent can get out of the way of the intended entertainment, whether it be a magazine article or […]
Baye’s Rule in Medicine
Baye’s rule is an interesting theorem of probability that has applications in a multitude of fields, including game theory, statistical analyses, and even medicine. We can see today, how important Baye’s Rule is in medical tests and diagnoses. This article in particular states that the test is 99% accurate when it diagnosis a positive case […]
Herding and Information Cascades in the Financial Market
Information cascades occur when people who are connected by a network influence the behavior of their counterparts; this is sometimes also defined as “herding.” Cascades occur in a specific progression: one after another, based on decisions or choices made by people “ahead” of the individual making a given decision. This is also viewed as, according […]
The Cascade Effect’s Application to Recent Events
On November 7, 2021, at Cornell University, there was a bomb threat that incited mass fear and chaos across campus residents. However, the events that unfolded were not proportional to the signals that were given to Cornellians due to cascade effects. In this situation, the direct signals that were given to everyone were the Cornell […]
Power Law in the Ocean
The ocean is home to millions of different species and wildlife that can all be observed extensively to learn more about different ecological and scientific processes. After examining the interactions between different species, scientists have found that the Power Law is very evident in the natural processes that occur everyday in the Ocean, but humans […]
YouTube dislike button and information cascade
Last week, YouTube announced a new update that will remove the ability to dislike videos. This was later clarified that users will still be able to dislike a video but the number of dislikes will be kept private from the viewer, available only to the content creator. The company’s reasoning for the change is to […]
Bayes Theorem Governs the Reliability of Covid Testing
The ongoing global pandemic that refuses to subside despite immense vaccination rates has made COVID testing very important. The linked article talks about the importance of Bayes’ Theorem in understanding the accuracies of lateral flow tests (LFTs), and applies the formula to check the rate of false positives and negatives in COVID testing. This is […]
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