Psychopathy and Evolutionarily Stable Strategies
If you were asked to list evolutionary adaptations that make successful people successful, chances are that psychopathy is not what springs to mind. However, psychopathy is a trait that allows individuals to exploit others to give themselves an advantage. This means that if someone else is a non-psychopath, it can be advantageous if you are […]
Can Voter Participation Be Described By Network Effects?
American democracy is often lauded for its citizenship and accessibility. The government is by the people, for the people. Yet, it is abundantly clear that the people do not fulfill their role to the greatest extent. At least, not in terms of voting. Approximately 67% of voting-age Americans participated in the 2020 president election—the […]
Looting as a Cascade
On Saturday night, a Nordstrom in Walnut Creek, California was raided by an estimated 80 people, with an unquantified amount of merchandise being stolen. Reportedly with no correlation to the Rittenhouse verdict, the looting was conducted very quickly, with the raid lasting no longer than one minute. The looters were armed with crowbars, ski masks, […]
eBay Motors asymmetric information
Article: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/lewis/files/aer2e1012e42e1535.pdf In this article, Lewis talks about how the rise of the internet has led to such a large rise in the amount of goods being traded online. Online trading often intensifies information asymmetries, as the buyer is not able to view the good in person; it is more difficult to infer the quality […]
Collective Action and Voter Turnout
While recently learning about collective action, the connection drawn to political protest under a repressive regime was especially interesting to me because of how it highlighted the consequential nature of network structure. When it comes to political action, it is not surprising that social networks are extremely decisive in who participates in politics, whether that […]
Achieving the Tipping Point for 5G
The market for 5G mobile networks is influenced by network effects, as the use gained from 5G depends on how many others are using 5G and how many compatible devices are available. Increased usage will spike popularity and trust in the product, as well as demand for the necessary infrastructure to be built, which in […]
The Gravitational Power of Network Effects
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/style/social-media-stuck.html Online social platforms draw much of their allure from the number of users they already have. No one is going to spend much time on social media if they are the only one that uses that platform. When a company releases an app such as Instagram or Snapchat they are only providing the […]
The Threshold of Silly Bandz
Original article: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trend-spotter-the-man-behind-silly-bandz-2010-12 If you were a kid in the 2010s, you may remember the ultimate craze of Silly Bandz. As silly as their spelling, these plastic bands came in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. I remember we would wear them on our wrists and even ankles, trade them for rare ones, and try […]
The Network Effect of Apple’s Dominance over Android
The network effect is one of the strongest models to determining the success or failure of software and software development. It is essential for software to drive value creation and continuous participation and profitability to withhold a marginal network effect. In this area of business, the software platform with the richest offerings and services becomes […]
Networks Effects in Startups
For many startups, reaching “critical mass” is important. The author of this article describes critical mass as “the point at which the value obtained from the good or service is greater than or equal to the price paid for the good or service”. In our networks class, we saw that there existed a “tipping point” […]
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