ABSTRACT
To say that we live in a “connected world” is a bit cliché. Over the past decade, a new “network science” has emerged from its primordial origins in anthropology and sociology to overtake popular culture and the academy alike (Barabasi, 2003; Watts, 2003; Christakis and Fowler, 2009). From best sellers like Malcolm Gladwell’s (2000) Tipping Point to revolutionary social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, the general populace wholeheartedly embraces the notion that social networks are key in understanding how the world works. How people are “linked” to other people makes a difference—it determines dating patterns, getting a job, shopping behaviors, health, and even the outcome of presidential elections. Within the academy, understanding the social relationships among people and organizations has been used to study problems as diverse as the diffusion of innovations and ideas (Burt, 1987; Chang and Harrington, 2005), the spread of public health epidemics (Eubank et al., 2004; Stoneburner and Low-Beer, 2004), processes of peer influence (Thompson, 1986; Watts et al., 2002; Gilbert et al., 2009), organizational and political behavior (Knoke, 1990; Burris, 2005; Baldassarri and Bearman, 2007), and even patterns of friendship and romantic relationships (Moody, 2001; Bearman et al., 2004). In short, the world—both in and beyond the academy—has come to an agreement that social networks matter.
