Readings
Introduction
The connected age and the small world problem
More on the small world problem and some history
- Granovetter, M. (2003). Ignorance, knowledge, and outcomes in a small world. Science, 301:773-774.
- Dodds, P.S., Muhamad, R., and Watts, D.J. (2003). An experimental study of search in a global social networks. Science, 301:827-829.
- Watts, Chapter 2. (Available from Canvas)
- Erdos-Reyni random graph animation by Uri Wilensky. (optional)
Understanding the small world phenomena
Degree distributions and power laws
- Watts, Chapter 4, 101-114.
- Barabasi, A.L. and Bonabeau, E. (2003) Scale-free networks. Scientific American, 50-59. (Available from Canvas)
- Barabasi, A.L. and Albert, R. (1999) The emergence of scaling in random networks. Science, 286:509-512.
- Liljeros, F. et al. (2001). The web of human sexual contacts. Nature, 411:907-908 with comment and rejoinder.
Foci
Social search
Spread of disease in networks
The madness of crowds
Thresholds, cascades, and predictability
Cascades and fads in cultural markets
- Hedstrom, P. (2006). Experimental macro sociology: Predicting the next best seller. Science, 311:786-787.
- Salganik, M.J., Dodds, P.S., and Watts, D.J. (2006). Experimental study of inequality and unpredictability in an artificial cultural market. Science, 311:854-856.
- Salganik, M.J., and Watts, D.J. (2008). Leading the herd astray: Experimental study of self-fulfilling prophecies in an artificial cultural market. Social Psychology Quarterly,
71:338-355.
Midterm exam
Spring break
- Have a safe and restful break.
Respondent-driven sampling
Stength of weak ties
Complex contagion
Experimental studies of contagion
Going viral
Social media and individuals
Social media and society
- Crokett, M.J. (2017). Moral outrage in the digital age. Nature Human Behavior.
- Brady, W.J. et al. (2021). How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks. Working paper.
- Aral, S. (2018). How lies spread online. New York Times.
- Vosoughi, S. et al. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science.
- Lazer, D. (2015). The rise of the social algorithm. Science.
- Bakshy, E., Messing, S., and Adamic, L.A. (2015) Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science.
Social ads in social media
Fixing social media
Network scale-up method to study groups most at-risk for HIV
Who knows what about who?
Choose your own adventure: Online dating
You have selected the topic for our final meeting: online dating.