New research to uncover nuances of networks
Feb. 20, 2013 9:01 a.m. When a species disappears from a region, the rest of the ecosystem may flourish or collapse, depending on the role that species played. When a storm rolls across the coast, the power grid might reconfigure itself quickly or leave cities dark for days. A snowstorm might mean business as usual in a hardy city and a severe food shortage in another, depending on the distribution strategies of residents. Each of these systems is a kind of network, with thousands of members and relationships linking them. With current network theory, scientists can predict a few simple trends, such as which web pages are likely to get more hits over time. A new four-year, $2.9 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is supporting SFI research that will, the researchers hope, propel their understanding of networks to the next level. Nodes and links in real networks are cloaked in details, he says. They have already made progress.
“Spreadable Media” by Henry Jenkins. The social value of content sharing.
Articles “Spreadable Media” by Henry Jenkins. The social value of content sharing Articles Essays New Media Open Culture Spreadable Media is the latest book by Henry Jenkins, professor at the University of South California and participatory culture theorist, written together with two digital strategists Sam Ford and Joshua Green. The book cover is, for once, very communicative and immediately explains the content: a series of taraxacum officinalis (lion’s tooth or dandelion) with moving spores. Viral marketing and Web 2.0 dominant idea that it is enough to create a “viral” campaign, or to produce a “meme” that function and will automatically replicate like a virus. In the idea of media as virus there is a subtle vision of the users like consumers who are passively contaminated and can do nothing but transmit the virus to their neighbours. Before spreading any content people must face several decisions: Is it worth sharing this content?
How to Burst the "Filter Bubble" that Protects Us from Opposing Views
The term “filter bubble” entered the public domain back in 2011when the internet activist Eli Pariser coined it to refer to the way recommendation engines shield people from certain aspects of the real world. Pariser used the example of two people who googled the term “BP”. One received links to investment news about BP while the other received links to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, presumably as a result of some recommendation algorithm. This is an insidious problem. Much social research shows that people prefer to receive information that they agree with instead of information that challenges their beliefs. This is the filter bubble—being surrounded only by people you like and content that you agree with. And the danger is that it can polarise populations creating potentially harmful divisions in society. The result is that individuals are exposed to a much wider range of opinions, ideas and people than they would otherwise experience. It’s certainly a start.
The Influence Landscape: The Evolving Power of Shapers & Influencers
Type the word “influence” into Google and it returns 142 million results. What is going on? The last two decades have seen major changes in the world which have reshaped the influence landscape – with power shifting away from position and traditional measures of status towards a much more fluid, fickle and democratic power structure. Today it is about the power of “me” and “we” more than the power of “they.” In this article we explore the emerging influence landscape and some of its potential implications. Influence is Power Essentially influence is about power, the ability to shift the actions, attitudes and behaviors of others, to be a compelling force leading the way towards a goal, an aspiration or a way of living or working. Even as recently as twenty or thirty years ago, the people with influence were relatively easy to spot: the President or Prime Minister of a nation, religious leaders, CEOs, and probably your parents. The Emancipation of Influence The Influence Landscape
1+1=1 : la formule des réseaux
On parle de réseau lorsque des éléments interagissent entre eux au sein d’un groupe. Ils sont étudiés aussi bien par les sciences humaines et sociales, les sciences du vivant et de la terre, que les sciences et techniques de l'information et de la communication. De façon étonnante, tous ces réseaux apparemment distincts ont certains points communs. Ce texte cherche à proposer une synthèse accessible à des non-spécialistes de ce qui est commun (mais aussi différent) dans les différents types de réseaux. La triade « constituants, règles, réseau » Souvent nous tentons d’aborder un réseau social, technique ou autre par le réductionnisme : en étudiant le comportement de ses constituants. Deux hommes veulent se confronter au tir à la corde. Les constituants plus les règles donnent le réseau Le réseau peut être déterminé par ses constituants et ses règles. En fait il faut considérer les trois aspects avec deux d’entre eux déterminant le troisième. La perte (partielle) de notre capacité à prévoir
Les réseaux sociaux, accélérateur de révolution
XEnvoyer cet article par e-mail Les réseaux sociaux, accélérateur de révolution Nouveau ! Pas le temps de lire cet article ? Fermer Depuis Facebook, il n’y a plus que trois ou quatre amis d’amis entre chaque individu, et les révoltes s’accélèrent Cela commence avec quelques bonnets rouges en colère contre l’éco-taxe, et se finit quelques semaines plus tard par un projet de réforme fiscale globale, qu’il devient nécessaire de larguer comme une bombe, à la façon du pompier Red Adair. Le concept de “swarm intelligence” Une découverte récente conforte cette idée : le nombre de niveaux de séparation entre les individus à la surface de la Terre diminue régulièrement depuis le début de l’ère numérique. Pour tenter de se figurer les conséquences d’une telle densification des échanges possibles entre individus différents, les spécialistes commencent à évoquer le concept de “swarm intelligence”. Par Jacques Secondi
Data Visualization Software | Tulip
The Emerging Science of Superspreaders (And How to Tell If You're One Of Them)
Who are the most influential spreaders of information on a network? That’s a question that marketers, bloggers, news services and even governments would like answered. Not least because the answer could provide ways to promote products quickly, to boost the popularity of political parties above their rivals and to seed the rapid spread of news and opinions. So it’s not surprising that network theorists have spent some time thinking about how best to identify these people and to check how the information they receive might spread around a network. But there’s a problem. But there is growing evidence that information does not spread through real networks in the same way as it does through these idealised ones. So the question of how to find the superspreaders remains open. In the past, network scientists have developed a number of mathematical tests to measure the influence that individuals have on the spread of information through a network.
