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damoncentola

In order to understand how to apply network scienc

In order to understand how to apply network science, you need to know if what you're spreading is simple or complex. In my interview with Shankar Vedantam on the Hidden Brain podcast, I discuss the main differences between simple and complex contagions. You can listen to the episode here! https://spoti.fi/3zTHoZO

#hiddenbrain #podcast #snowballeffect #interviewquote #socialcontagions #simpleandcomplex

In my recent talk for UPenn's NoBeC Center, I disc

In my recent talk for UPenn's NoBeC Center, I discussed my research with Penn students and how this has challenged well-established views of social spreading. Previously, it was thought that certain people were simply "better" at being influential, and that information spreads from the center of a network to the periphery. I discussed how this myth has caused many change efforts to fail, and even backfire! I show how that "center" of the network can change depending on the contagion that is being spread. In this talk, I dive into the details of how to find the center of the network and how to use those people most effectively to spread new products and ideas. Check out the talk on YouTube: ➡ https://bit.ly/3SARxDh

#nobec #talk #youtube #contagions #sociology #networkscience #lecturequote

Today is graduation day for the UPenn class of 202

Today is graduation day for the UPenn class of 2023! Congratulations and best wishes to all the graduates. What an exciting time!

#upenn #graduation #congratsgrads #classof2023 #universityofpennsylvania

Next Tuesday (May 16th) I will be giving a lecture

Next Tuesday (May 16th) I will be giving a lecture at the National Cancer Institute titled, “New Theory and Experiments on Implicit Race and Gender Bias in Medicine” as part of the Cancer Prevention and Control Colloquia Series. This series is open to the public! It will be available online at cpfp.cancer.gov/events

#talk #lecture #nationalcancerinstitute #cancerprevention #theory #experiments #sociology

All throughout my work, I mention the terms "stron

All throughout my work, I mention the terms "strong ties" and "weak ties". These ideas are actually built upon a foundational paper by Mark Granovetter called "the Strength of Weak Ties". He found that weak ties are particularly helpful in delivering new employment opportunities because they introduce novel labor market information to a broader social network. Granovetter's study is the most cited study in all of sociology, and his work has also gotten him onto the short list for a Nobel Prize!

#sociology #markgranovetter #thestrengthofweakties #weakties #strongties #academics

When we talk about creating bridges in social netw

When we talk about creating bridges in social networks, there can actually be different types. In my book, Change, I outline the concept of "narrow" and "wide" bridges. Narrow bridges consist of a few weak ties across otherwise closed networks. Wide bridges consist of overlapping friendship ties connecting many individuals across different communities. One of the main differences between narrow and wide bridges is the types of social contagions they are successful at transmitting. Narrow bridges are very useful for simple information sharing, while wide bridges are better at knowledge transfer and innovation diffusion. Narrow bridges will not work well for changing organizational culture, but wide bridges do work well because they create trust and coordination, which lowers the risk involved when spreading new ideas.

#bridges #socialcoordination #sociology #change #book #socialnetworks

In my last post, I talked about identification of

In my last post, I talked about identification of influential "seed nodes" for spreading complex contagions. This comes from a recent paper (link here: https://bit.ly/3mltLje) in which we apply our idea to a real-world experiment. In an empirical study of a microfinance program across 43 Indian villages, we found that "complex centrality" accurately predicted the most influential households in the social network. In this graph, you can see that average complex path length accurately predicts the adoption of the microfinance program.

#complexcontagions #networkanalysis #influentialnodes #socialmovements #microfinance #complexcentrality

In my 2021 paper, (link here: https://bit.ly/3mltL

In my 2021 paper, (link here: https://bit.ly/3mltLje), I demonstrate how complex path length and complex centrality allow you to identify the most influential "seed nodes" for spreading complex contagions.

In this visualization, the shortest simple path between two nodes (l and q) is shown in blue, while the complex paths are shown in red. The complex paths include all ranges of peer reinforcement that may be required for transmission, leading to better estimates. The locations in the network that are at the intersection of the greatest number of complex paths identify the people with high complex centrality. These people are the best targets for initiating a change process.

#complexcontagion #nature #communications #sociology #centrality #networks

This month, I have dispelled several myths about i

This month, I have dispelled several myths about influencers and offered examples of the role they play in spreading information, and how this can have disastrous effects when it comes to spreading behavior change.

Historically, social influence was determined using models of simple path length in a network. However, my research has discovered the measure of complex centrality as the best way to identify social influence in networks... next, I'll tell you which complex centrality is and how it works.

#influencers #researchmethods #networkdynamics #sociology #centrality #whatis

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